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What to know about the Conn. woman who allegedly held her stepson captive for 20 years
When he visited the man in the hospital after the fire, his uncle said, “I was shocked, he looks like a Holocaust survivor.”
A 56-year-old Connecticut woman is facing kidnapping and assault charges for allegedly keeping her stepson, now 32, locked in a room since he was pulled out of school in fourth grade.
Kimberley Sullivan, of Waterbury, appeared in court Wednesday; her bond was set at $300,000. She was released on bond Thursday, according to a lawyer representing her.
The man was discovered after he intentionally set a fire last month in the 8-by-9-foot “back storage space” on the second floor where he was locked in from the outside with a sliding bolt lock, according to an affidavit filed in court.
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“I wanted my freedom,” he told first responders who treated him for smoke inhalation and fire exposure. Authorities quickly noticed that he was severely emaciated.
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Her lawyer Ionnis Kaloidis told Boston.com Wednesday that Sullivan “is adamant that she’s done nothing wrong” and was “shocked” when she heard of the charges.
“We are anticipating a long fight ahead of us. The allegations are serious, but they are allegations. She is presumed innocent,” Kaloidis said Wednesday. “We don’t feel the state’s case is as strong as it may appear on the surface. Over the coming months, we plan to put forth a strong defense.”
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Here’s what to know about the allegations against Sullivan.
What happened during the fire?
Police spoke with Sullivan at the scene, who said she didn’t know what happened and woke up to smoke, according to the affidavit. She told police that the man, her 32-year-old stepson, “has a lot of problems but isn’t diagnosed with any conditions as (his) father was against using doctors.”
“(He) stated that he set the fire using hand sanitizer, printer paper, and a flame from a lighter,” which he found in the pocket of a jacket that belonged to his father, who died last year. He told police he knew the sanitizer was flammable because, “I read.”
The man told police that the day of the fire was “same old, same old.” Once the fire was strong, he stomped and yelled for help, telling Sullivan that the radio had malfunctioned, according to the affidavit.
After leaving his room, he had collapsed at the top of the stairs, but “Sullivan made him get up and go to the bathroom and wash his face” to hide his appearance from first responders, the affidavit reads.
He told police that he knew he would have to let the fire “get to a point where Sullivan would not be able to put it out and that the fire department would have to come,” according to the affidavit.
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The man told police he purposefully didn’t get up so he could receive help from fire crews because he “believed this was the only way out of his situation.”
At the scene, Sullivan told police that his door is not locked and he has free rein of the house. When authorities began their investigation, Sullivan refused to meet with police and got a lawyer, the affidavit said.
How was he allegedly locked away?
Police spoke with the man, who was kept anonymous in court records, twice after the fire at a medical facility where he was recovering. The man told police that he had been “held captive” inside the residence on Blake Street in Waterbury since he was around 11 years old.
He remembers being hungry at the age of three, sneaking out of his room to get food and water, according to the affidavit. He began to be locked in his room then “when the wrappings to the food he ate were eventually discovered,” he told police. He remembers drinking water from the toilet because he was only given two cups of water daily before he began preschool.
He was pulled out of school in fourth grade after the Department of Children and Families was contacted by his school. He was “always hungry,” asking for other students for food, stealing food, and eating out of the garbage, police said in their affidavit. DCF visited the home twice, and Sullivan told him “to tell them that everything was fine,” the affidavit said.
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According to the affidavit, the 32-year-old told police that his door had always been locked from the outside, first with a chain lock, then a pad lock, until the slide bolt lock that police discovered on the door. He had an “actual bedroom” until the age of 12 until he was moved to the back storage space where he set the fire last month, according to the affidavit.
“Not only did he demonstrate to Detective Pesce how it operated, but the lock was also observed from photos obtained from search and seizure warrants executed at the residence,” the affidavit said.
Who is the alleged victim?
Police noted that the man appeared to have no knowledge of how to use an iPad or a microwave. He was given three to four books every year and used a dictionary to “ultimately educate himself,” police said.
After he was pulled out of school, “his weekday routine and captivity became brutally consistent for the rest of his life,” he told police. He would be let out of his room around 8 a.m. every morning for 15 minutes to two hours of chores, according to the affidavit. Then, he would be locked back in his room.
When he was a young child, he had access to a potty chair in his room, but when he was a teen and adult, he was forced to use bottles and newspapers to dispose of his waste, according to the affidavit.
He would drain the bottles with a series of straws through a hole in the window, and he would roll up his feces in newspaper, tie it in with a string from an unraveled t-shirt, and bring it out when he did chores, he told police.
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He kept track of time with a calendar and a radio, which allowed him to follow University of Connecticut basketball and NASCAR. He had a black-and-white TV for three months, 15 years ago, he told police, which became outdated.
He said his days consisted of reading and watching cars pass by his window, according to the affidavit.
Why did the alleged abuse continue for so long?
The man told police that there was no sexual abuse and only recalled one instance of physical abuse. He said in 2005, he tried to escape to eat food. Sullivan found out, slapped him in the face, and secured plywood on both sides of the door so he couldn’t get out again. Police found the plywood where the man described it.
Sullivan provided him with up to two sandwiches — mostly deli meats, peanut butter, and occasionally tuna or egg salad — but his food rations were becoming less and less every year, the man told police. He said he was given two small bottles of water per day.
When asked if he was hungry, he said, “all day, everyday, my entire life.”
He said he never spoke to anyone due to the “constant threat” of longer lockdowns and further diminishment of food. He described “a life of being mentally conditioned by Sullivan.” She threatened he would “not see the light of day” if he told anyone, and he didn’t want to risk his current situation. He also had discovered a gun while cleaning, he told police.
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Sullivan allegedly told him that “under pain of death no one was to see [him],” he told police, so he didn’t break his window, which was a storm window that could not be removed.
What did doctors say about the man’s condition?
When he was in the ambulance after the fire, officials immediately recognized the 32-year-old was severely emaciated and had an issue with his hygiene. He told police that he had “not bathed in a year or two,” but would save a portion of his drinking water for bathing. He did not have soap, had long, thick matted hair, and could not remember the last time had had taken a shower, according to the affidavit.
He had not been to the doctor or the dentist since he was a child and had only ever been provided with aspirin. He had severe tooth decay and told police that “pieces of his teeth would break off” when he ate, according to the affidavit.
After an exam, doctors described the man as cachectic, or having wasting syndrome, which is a condition of significant weight loss and muscle loss affecting people who have advanced cancer or heart disease, according to the affidavit.
He was near starvation, weighed around 68 pounds at 5-foot-9-inches, and had a body mass index of 11, the affidavit reads. Medical staff told police that a body mass index under 16 is considered starvation while under 13 is considered life threatening.
He also had decreased mobility in his arms, knees, and joints. He showed signs PTSD and depression, according to the affidavit.
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“He’s noted as being developmentally delayed at this time having an adolescent cognitive level,” police wrote. He “demonstrated difficulty problem solving, multitasking and sequencing. He became frequently overwhelmed and needed verbal cues to continue.”
Did anyone know about the man allegedly being held captive?
The man told police that his late father, Sullivan, two half-sisters, and a late grandmother knew about his situation. His sister and her boyfriend were on the scene during the fire that he set, according to the affidavit.
He said no one except Sullivan locked him in the room, but they were all aware, the affidavit said.
His uncle spoke to police after the fire, saying he hadn’t seen the man since 2004 or 2005, according to the affidavit. He said he was pushed away from the family but remembered the man as “skinny, meek, and mild-mannered,” police said. He remembered asking the then-boy some questions, but Sullivan would interfere.
Around a decade ago, the uncle was concerned and spoke with a private investigator, who suggested looking for a death certificate. When he visited the man in the hospital after the fire, his uncle said, “I was shocked, he looks like a Holocaust survivor.”
In a statement Thursday, Connecticut DCF Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly said they “have been unable to locate any records pertaining to this family nor any records connected to the names of others who have indicated they made reports to our Department.”
The commissioner said investigation reports that are not substantiated are expunged five years after the completion of the investigation.
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“We are shocked and saddened for the victim and at the unspeakable conditions he endured. The now adult victim has shown incredible strength and resilience during this time of healing and our hearts go out to him,” Hill-Lilly said.
This article was updated to include a statement from DCF.
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