The stepson of a Connecticut woman told detectives he had been held captive for two decades, beginning at the age of 11. Although his former principal and elementary school reportedly told authorities about the now-grown man’s alleged mistreatment, many turned the other way, including his own relatives, according to charging documents.
Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly holding her 32-year-old stepson in captivity and subjecting him to “prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment,” Waterbury police said in a Facebook post.
“The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable,” Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said, per the social media post. “This case required relentless investigative effort, and I commend the dedication of our officers and the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office. Their unwavering commitment ensured that justice is served, and the perpetrator is held fully accountable for these horrific crimes.”
Sullivan remains in police custody with a $300,000 bond on charges of first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons and first-degree reckless endangerment, Connecticut Department of Corrections inmate records show.
“She’s never been in trouble. She’s never harmed anyone,” Ioannis Kaloidis, Sullivan’s attorney, told USA TODAY on Wednesday. “She denies these allegations, and I would just ask people not to rush to judgment here. We’re confident as the facts come out, she will be vindicated.”
Here is how Sullivan’s stepson was allegedly held captive for 20 years.
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Kimberly Sullivan’s stepson: ‘I wanted my freedom’
Waterbury Police and Fire responded to Kimberly Sullivan’s home on Blake Street around 8:42 p.m. on Feb. 17, and once firefighters extinguished the reported active fire, a grisly discovery awaited.
Sullivan was able to evacuate her home, while her stepson remained inside and was later assisted out by Waterbury firefighters, police said. The man was suffering from smoke inhalation and exposure to the fire, according to the department.
While being treated, the stepson told the first responders that he intentionally set the fire in his upstairs room using a lighter, hand sanitizer and paper, stating, “I wanted my freedom,” police said. He then alleged that Sullivan held him captive since he was 11 years old, according to the department’s Facebook post.
Waterbury police’s investigation determined that the stepson was found in a “severely emaciated condition” and had not received medical or dental care throughout his captivity, the department said. Investigators also concluded that the man had been given “minimal amounts of food and water,” which contributed to him being extremely malnourished, police said.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by USA TODAY, upon exiting the home, the stepson’s hair was matted, “he was very dirty,” and all of his teeth were rotten. The stepson told police officers that Sullivan was able to keep him locked inside his bedroom because there was a lock on the outside of his door, the warrant continued.
Stepson’s former principal: ‘Not a damn thing was done’
At 3 years old, Sullivan’s stepson recalled sneaking out of his room at night to look for leftover food and drink, according to the arrest warrant. At this young age, he would begin to be locked in his room during the evenings once wrappings from the food he took were found, the warrant says.
The stepson also remembered drinking water from the toilet because he only drank about two cups a day and had to resort to stealing food from children at school or finding his next meal in the garbage, he told police, per the warrant. A lock was “always” on the outside of the room he was kept in, he added.
Once the stepson was pulled from school in the fourth grade following Department of Children and Families visits at the family’s home, his “weekday routine and captivity became brutally consistent for the rest of his life,” according to the arrest warrant.
“We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done. That’s the tragedy of the whole thing,” Tom Pannone, the former principal of the now-closed Barnard Elementary School in Waterbury, told WNBC.
Pannone, who hadn’t seen Sullivan’s stepson since he was in the fourth grade, recalled he and his staff noticing him being extremely small and thin, the New York City-based TV station reported. He said when they asked him questions, he told them he wasn’t allowed food sometimes at home, according to WNBC.
“Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was 5 years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong,” Pannone said, per the TV station.
Stepson forced to use a bottle, newspaper to dispose of waste
Sullivan kept her stepson locked away for multiple hours every day, aside from when he was allowed to do various chores that took between 15 minutes to two hours to complete, the warrant states. His only glimmer of normalcy was on the weekends when his father allowed him to watch TV or help him with yard work while Sullivan and his sisters were out of the home, according to the warrant.
When the stepson’s father died, the alleged “captivity” and “restraint” worsened, he told police. At this point, he was being fed two sandwiches and given two small water bottles, which he was forced to use alongside newspapers to dispose of his waste, the warrant states.
Relatives, including his sisters, knew about the situation but did nothing to intervene, police said. The stepson told police he worried that Sullivan would withhold the sparse food and “light of day” she provided if he told anyone what he was experiencing, according to the warrant.
“All day, every day, my entire life,” the stepson said about his constant hunger, per the warrant.
The stepson also told officers that a lock has always been on the outside of his door, the warrant states. It evolved from a chain lock, to a pad lock and eventually to a slide bolt lock, according to the charging document.
Where did Kimberly Sullivan’s stepson live?
In Sullivan’s home, the stepson lived in what police described “as a back storage space on the second floor of the residence,” the warrant states. The eight feet by nine feet space had angled ceilings with no heat in the winter and no air conditioning in the summer, the stepson told police.
Following his father’s death, Sullivan’s stepson would only be let out one minute a day to let the family dog out in the back of the property, according to the warrant. He was locked in his room between 22 to 24 hours a day, he told police, per the charging document.
To bathe himself, the stepson said used the clean water from another bottle he kept in his room other than the one he urinated inside, according to the warrant. He was not provided soap or shampoo to wash the hair he told police he had not cut in three years, the charging document states.
Sullivan’s stepson’s only real connection to the outside world was a radio that was kept outside of his bedroom, the warrant says. Along with a calendar, he told police that he utilized the radio to keep track of time, the charging document continued.
For education, despite being on a fourth-grade reading level, the stepson was given three to four books a year. He told police that he used the books and a dictionary to ultimately educate himself, according to the warrant. He told police he knew hand sanitizer was flammable because “he read!”
Kimberly Sullivan: Stepson had ‘free reign of the house’
On the day of the fire, Sullivan initially told detectives that she did not know what happened and that she woke up to the smoke and went to her stepson’s room, according to the warrant. She figured that her stepson ran through the fire because he ended up outside of the room, the charging document continued.
When asked if her stepson was diagnosed with any mental conditions, she responded that, “he has a lot of problems but isn’t diagnosed with any conditions” as his father was against using doctors, the warrant states. Sullivan said she took her stepson to a psychiatrist a few times because he mentioned hurting himself in the past, according to the warrant.
Evaluations of Sullivan’s stepson following the fire noted a slew of physical limitations, including decreased arm and leg abilities, the warrant states. His mental health assessment also found that he tested positive for PTSD and depression, according to the charging document.
Sullivan was “stunned to hear the allegations that are being made against her,” her attorney, Kaloidis, told USA TODAY.
Sullivan told detectives that her stepson was not locked inside his room and that he had “free reign of the house,” the charging document states.
