Images from a house where a man was allegedly held captive by his stepmom in conditions akin to an ‘Auschwitz death camp’ have been released by police.
Kimberly Sullivan, 56, is being held on a $300,000 bond after being charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty, and reckless endangerment.
It’s alleged she held the 32-year-old victim, whose name has not been released, captive at his Connecticut home since he was aged 11, allowing him outside for only a ‘one minute’ a day and forcing him to drink from the toilet bowl to slake his thirst.
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First look: Images from inside the Connecticut house of horrors where a man was allegedly held captive by his stepmother Kimberly Sullivan for 20 years
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Boarded up: The victim, 32, whose name has not been disclosed, claims he had been held captive in his Connecticut home since he was about 11
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Denial: Kimberly Sullivan (pictured being taken into custody) has been charged with holding her stepson captive for 20 years in a situation so dire he set fire to his room in a last-ditch effort to escape
Her attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, indicated Sullivan intends to vigorously defend the charges, saying: ‘She’s adamant she did not do the things that she’s accused of.’
The victim claims Sullivan would lock him in an 8-foot-by-9-foot room with no heat or air conditioning for 22 hours a day, only letting him out to complete household chores, a police affidavit states.
The victim, who was emaciated and weighed only 68lb – despite being 5-foot-9, says he was only allowed outside for ‘about one minute a day’ to ‘let the family dog out in the back of the property,’ the affidavit states.
Sullivan would only allow the victim to eat two sandwiches a day and provided him with the equivalent of ‘two small bottles of water,’ he told police.
The man alleges he remembers food and water restricted from the time he was three, recalling how when he once was so thirsty he drank from the toilet bowl, the affidavit states.
He would also steal food from classmates and eat out of the school garbage bins, prompting investigations from 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 protective services, which he alleges resulted in Sullivan pulling him out of school.
The victim finally escaped Sullivan’s alleged reign of abuse after setting fire to his tiny second-floor bedroom of their Waterbury, Connecticut, home on February 17.
When first responders arrived to put out the blaze, they discovered the emaciated man.
Prosecutors said he was ‘akin to a survivor of Auschwitz’s death camp’ at the time he was rescued.
As he was being treated for smoke inhalation, he confided in rescue crews that he set the blaze intentionally as a means to escape.
‘I wanted my freedom,’ the man allegedly told police.
A thorough investigation has now led authorities to believe the man ‘had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment’.
During that time, he had received no medical treatment or dental care, according to the police affidavit.
The victim, whose doctors allege has ‘severe tooth decay,’ told investigators that when he ate, ‘pieces of his teeth would break off,’ the affidavit said.
Investigators also noted there was ‘clearly an issue with his hygiene,’ with the victim alleging he ‘had not bathed in a year or two.’
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Grim conditions: Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Don Therkildsen described the ‘facts of the case’ as, ‘quite frankly, something out of a horror movie’
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Gloomy: The victim allegedly endured ‘prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment.’ Pictured is an exterior shot of the Waterbury, Connecticut property
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Detritus: Pictured is the back garden of the family’s Waterbury, Connecticut, home
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Rundown: The victim says he was only allowed outside for ‘about 1 minute a day’ to ‘let the family dog out in the back of the property,’ according to an affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com
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Scorched: The victim finally escaped Sullivan’s alleged reign of abuse after setting fire to his tiny second-floor bedroom of their Waterbury home on February 17
The police affidavit includes that he said he would attempt to bathe in his room using a bottle he kept in the space.
Each day, the man would allegedly save a portion of his drinking water in this bottle and once it was full, use it to clean himself.
The man also revealed he was forced to urinate in bottles and go to the toilet on newspapers because he did not have access to proper facilities.
He told authorities he would pee in a bottle, then funnel the fluid into a tube he created using straws, the affidavit states. He would then guide the straws through a hole in his window to empty the bottle.
He also stated that he would squat over newspaper he on the ground to relieve himself, then roll it up and tie it with string he unraveled from old T-shirts. He disposed of his waste in the kitchen trash can when he was let out of the room to do chores.
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said: ‘The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable.
‘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.’
In court Wednesday: Sullivan (pictured with her lawyer) is being held with a $300,000 bond after she was arraigned. Her attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, indicated Sullivan intends to vigorously defend against the charges
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Charged: Connecticut woman Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arraigned on Wednesday on a host of disturbing counts, including assault and kidnapping
According to an affidavit in support of the warrant for Sullivan’s arrest, the victim’s living conditions deteriorated when his father died last year.
Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Don Therkildsen described the ‘facts of the case’ as, ‘quite frankly, something out of a horror movie.’
‘That’s without exaggeration,’ he added.
According to WFSB, the victim ‘lit a fire with some hand sanitizer [and] some paper from a printer.’
Prosecutors told the court during Sullivan’s arraignment that the man ‘lit that fire very well knowing he could die.
‘But he had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years he’d been trying to get out of that room.
‘He was… akin to a survivor of Auschwitz’s death camp.’
The man’s elementary school principal, Tom Pannone, told NBC ‘the tragedy of the whole thing’ is that school authorities alerted police when the boy stopped attending classes.
‘We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done,’ he said.
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Peaceful scene: Prosecutors told the court during Sullivan’s arraignment that the victim was ‘akin to a survivor of Auschwitz’s death camp.’ Pictured is the exterior of the property
Pannone said he and his staff at the since-closed school noticed the boy appeared thin, and when probed he told teachers he wasn’t allowed food at home.
‘Everyone really was concerned with this 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 since he was five years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong,’ he said.
Teachers would even bring lunches for the boy after seeing him steal food or eat out of trash cans, Pannone said, revealing he and his team called the Department of Children and Families (DCF) at least 20 times.
Pannone said he hadn’t seen the alleged victim since the early 2000s, when he was in the fourth grade.
After the boy stopped attending classes, Pannone was initially told he transferred to Wolcott Public Schools, but later heard he was being homeschooled.
Police determined that the victim ‘ultimately educated himself.’
According to the affidavit, he had access to about three to four books. The man said he would would read the books and every ‘word he came across that he did not know he would look up in the dictionary.’
He also claims he was able to stay ‘semi-current’ on world issues, track the date, and keep up with sports by listening to local radio stations on a radio that was kept outside his bedroom.
