Man, 32, set fire to home to escape stepmom who ‘starved him and held him captive’ for over 20 years
A woman from Connecticut is accused of having held her severely emaciated stepson captive for over two decades after the man set fire to the home where he was being held in order to escape.
Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arrested on Wednesday after the shocking claims came to light when the 32-year-old man started a fire in their home on February 17.
Authorities compared the “inhumane” conditions the man was held in for over 20 years to “something out of a horror movie”.
Sullivan had fled the family’s Waterbury home when the blaze erupted, and the 32-year-old man, who weighed just 68 lbs according to court documents, was later pulled from the property.
He received treatment for smoke inhalation and exposure to the flames, and told first responders that he’d intentionally set light to the cramped storage space where he was forced to sleep in order to end the hellish ordeal he’d been subjected to for decades.
The unnamed man told police he’d been held captive since he was around 11 years old, explaining: “I wanted my freedom.”
The police and Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office launched an investigation which found that the man faced “inhumane treatment”, including being starved, abused, and neglected, and had not had any medical or dental checkups or treatment in many years.
The man heartbreakingly revealed that when he was a little boy living with Sullivan, his father, and his siblings, he even had to resort to drinking out of a toilet bowl at times to quench his thirst as he was only allowed two cups of water per day, according to a warrant affidavit obtained by WFSB.
Before he was pulled out of elementary school, he claimed he would steal food from others or eat out of the garbage due to his hunger.
Per the affidavit, he claimed he’d been forced to use bottles and newspapers when needing the toilet in his teenage and adult years.
Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Don Therkildsen said, via CT Insider: “The facts of this case, quite frankly, the facts are something out of a horror movie. That’s without exaggeration.”
He added that the victim set fire to the home in a desperate attempt for freedom, “knowing he very well could have died.”
In order to start the fire, the man had used hand sanitizer, printer paper, and a lighter that he’d found in the pocket of a jacket belonging to his late father, the warrant stated.
As he and Sullivan fled the blaze, the man fell to the ground and stayed there so that firefighters would be forced to pick him up, as he believed “this was his only way out of his situation”.
An attorney for Sullivan, Ioannis Kaloidis, denied the claims against her on Wednesday, stating: “The allegations are horrific, but they are simply that: allegations. They’re allegations made by one person that are largely uncorroborated by any independent evidence.”
Sullivan is charged with first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons, and first-degree reckless endangerment.
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said in a statement: “The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable.”
Sullivan’s lawyer said that she was “blown away” and “stunned” when he read the list of accusations to her, adding: “She is innocent and she has every intention of defending this case and we are confident she will be vindicated.”
He claimed there was food in the home and that the stepson was not locked in a room, adding: “Does he have health issues? I’m sure he does. But she’s the stepmom, there was a biological father that was responsible for his care, who dictated his care,” noting the father died last year.
Neighbors said the family kept to themselves and that they never saw the stepson outside of the house, but had seen him over the years doing yardwork without realizing it was Sullivan’s stepson.
Sullivan’s bond was set at $300,000, which Kaloidis said would likely be posted as soon as Thursday.