Would not with the stepmom.
WATERBURY, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) - Connecticut police say a fire that was intentionally started by a man who says he was held captive for over two decades remains under investigation.
Waterbury police said they were called on Feb. 17 for a report of an active fire at an area home.
The owner of the home, 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, was able to evacuate safely.
A 32-year-old man, later identified as Sullivan’s stepson, had to be assisted out of the home by firefighters. He suffered smoke inhalation and exposure injuries from the fire.
When speaking to first responders, he said he intentionally set the fire in his upstairs room to gain his freedom.
A 32-year-old man, later identified as Sullivan’s stepson, had to be assisted out of the home by firefighters.(WFSB)
“He lit a fire with some hand sanitizer and some paper from a printer,” a prosecutor said. “He lit that fire very well knowing he could die, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years.”
The man told authorities that he had been held captive by Sullivan since he was about 11 years old.
When he was taken to the hospital, he weighed approximately 68 pounds, telling investigators that he was provided only with minimal amounts of food and water over the years.
Authorities launched an investigation and Sullivan was arrested on several charges, including kidnapping, unlawful restraint and cruelty to persons.
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo held a press conference on Thursday, calling the treatment reported shameful.
“It’s shuddering to think that someone would treat any person, let alone a family member or someone who was entrusted with a guardian or parental figure, in this way,” he said. “Thirty-three years in law enforcement [and] this is the worst treatment of humanity that I’ve ever witnessed.”
Kimberly Sullivan, 56. police mug shot.(Waterbury Police Department)
According to Sullivan’s arrest warrant, the man was only allowed outside to do chores for his stepmother.
Eventually, he was allowed to let their dog out, which meant that he was outside of the room for about a minute a day.
The man said he was pulled out of school in the fourth grade and had no contact with anyone outside of the home.
He said the last time he left the house was with his father when he was 14 or 15 years old.
The man also shared that only his stepmother, his now deceased father, two half sisters and deceased grandmother knew of the situation.
Kimberly Sullivan was escorted by Waterbury detectives on March 12, 2025 following her arrest on kidnapping and cruelty to persons charges, police said.(Waterbury police)
Neighbors said they were shocked to hear about what was happening.
“I just thought it was an accident, and then when the investigator started asking me about a man that may look like a child, I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’” neighbor Zeffery Guarnera said.
Police said Thursday that they first investigated the family in 2005 when other children told Department of Children and Families workers that they were worried about the reported victim after he had been pulled out of school.
Sullivan managed to hide the abuse, police said.
“Officers went to the house. It was clean, it was lived in,” Spagnolo said. “They spoke to the victim at that time and there [was] no cause for any alarm, or any conditions that existed that would have led officers to believe anything other than a normal childhood.”
They just recently learned that the abuse continued after they left.
“There’s a lot of physical therapy that he’ll have to go through,” Spagnolo said. “There’s a lot of healing that he’ll have to go through mentally.”
Copyright 2025 WFSB via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
WATERBURY, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) - Connecticut police say a fire that was intentionally started by a man who says he was held captive for over two decades remains under investigation.
Waterbury police said they were called on Feb. 17 for a report of an active fire at an area home.
The owner of the home, 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, was able to evacuate safely.
A 32-year-old man, later identified as Sullivan’s stepson, had to be assisted out of the home by firefighters. He suffered smoke inhalation and exposure injuries from the fire.
When speaking to first responders, he said he intentionally set the fire in his upstairs room to gain his freedom.
A 32-year-old man, later identified as Sullivan’s stepson, had to be assisted out of the home by firefighters.(WFSB)
“He lit a fire with some hand sanitizer and some paper from a printer,” a prosecutor said. “He lit that fire very well knowing he could die, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years.”
The man told authorities that he had been held captive by Sullivan since he was about 11 years old.
When he was taken to the hospital, he weighed approximately 68 pounds, telling investigators that he was provided only with minimal amounts of food and water over the years.
Authorities launched an investigation and Sullivan was arrested on several charges, including kidnapping, unlawful restraint and cruelty to persons.
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo held a press conference on Thursday, calling the treatment reported shameful.
“It’s shuddering to think that someone would treat any person, let alone a family member or someone who was entrusted with a guardian or parental figure, in this way,” he said. “Thirty-three years in law enforcement [and] this is the worst treatment of humanity that I’ve ever witnessed.”
Kimberly Sullivan, 56. police mug shot.(Waterbury Police Department)
According to Sullivan’s arrest warrant, the man was only allowed outside to do chores for his stepmother.
Eventually, he was allowed to let their dog out, which meant that he was outside of the room for about a minute a day.
The man said he was pulled out of school in the fourth grade and had no contact with anyone outside of the home.
He said the last time he left the house was with his father when he was 14 or 15 years old.
The man also shared that only his stepmother, his now deceased father, two half sisters and deceased grandmother knew of the situation.
Kimberly Sullivan was escorted by Waterbury detectives on March 12, 2025 following her arrest on kidnapping and cruelty to persons charges, police said.(Waterbury police)
Neighbors said they were shocked to hear about what was happening.
“I just thought it was an accident, and then when the investigator started asking me about a man that may look like a child, I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’” neighbor Zeffery Guarnera said.
Police said Thursday that they first investigated the family in 2005 when other children told Department of Children and Families workers that they were worried about the reported victim after he had been pulled out of school.
Sullivan managed to hide the abuse, police said.
“Officers went to the house. It was clean, it was lived in,” Spagnolo said. “They spoke to the victim at that time and there [was] no cause for any alarm, or any conditions that existed that would have led officers to believe anything other than a normal childhood.”
They just recently learned that the abuse continued after they left.
“There’s a lot of physical therapy that he’ll have to go through,” Spagnolo said. “There’s a lot of healing that he’ll have to go through mentally.”
Copyright 2025 WFSB via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Police chief calls stepson held captive in home for 20-plus years ‘worst treatment of humanity’
Policw say a man started a fire in an attempt to escape a room in which he had been held captive for more than two decades.
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