WATERBURY, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) – A man intentionally started a fire in a room he had allegedly been held captive in for more than 20 years during an attempt to escape.
Police in Connecticut were called on Feb. 17 for a report of an active fire at a Blake Street residence in Waterbury.
Two people were home at the time.
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 the Waterbury Fire Department. 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, stating, “I wanted my freedom.”
“He lit a fire with some hand sanitizer, some paper from a printer, and he lit that fire while he was locked in that room from the outside. He 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,” a prosecutor said in court Wednesday.
The man said he had been held captive by Sullivan since he was approximately 11 years old.
“Absolutely not true,” Sullivan’s attorney said. “He was not locked in a room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food and she provided shelter and she has blown away by these allegations. Absolutely not.’
When he was taken to the hospital, he weighed approximately 68 pounds.
“He was, without exaggeration, akin to a survivor of Auschwitz’s death camp,” the prosecutor said.
An investigation was launched.
“Detectives determined that the victim had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect and inhumane treatment,” police said. “He was found in a severely emaciated condition and had not received medical or dental care during this time.”
He was also provided with only minimal amounts of food and water, which led to his extremely malnourished condition, according to investigators.
He told police he would be given only two cups of water a day, sometimes being forced to drink out of the toilet.
The room he was allegedly held in was 8 feet by 9 feet in size.
According to the warrant, the victim was only allowed outside to do chores for his stepmother.
Eventually, however, he was only allowed to let their dog out, meaning that he was outside of the room for about a minute a day.
He was pulled out of school in fourth grade and said he had no contact with anyone outside of his home, according to the warrant. The last two reports for well-being checks are from April 2005.
He said the last time he left the house was with his father when he was 14 or 15 years old.
According to the arrest warrant, the man told police the threat of losing the minimal food he was given and longer lockdowns kept him from trying to break out.
He also said that only his stepmother, his now-deceased father, two half-sisters and late grandmother knew of his situation.
Sullivan was arrested and charged with assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
Sullivan was arraigned in court and her bond was set at $300,000.
“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,” Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said.
Neighbors were shocked to know this was unfolding just feet from where they live.
Zeffery Guarnera was home the night of the fire. He says he had never seen the victim.
“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,’” said Guarnera.
Guarnera’s stepdaughter says she saw the man in the window more than a decade ago.
“In the backyard, I was just on the swing set and I looked up at the back window and I just saw a little boy there, or it looked like a little boy to me, and he just smiled and waved at me and I waved back, and when I turned my head and looked back from the window, he was gone,” said neighbor Shae Baker.
Both of them were shaken up by what was happening behind that window.
“I was very shocked. I think I’ve kind of convinced myself that maybe I did just make him up all those years ago, but I just hope he gets the help that he needs to heal from everything,” Baker added. “If you were at that window and you don’t tap on the window and scream or do something to ask for help that you had to resort to this, I can’t imagine how horrible his conditions were.”
The victim is still being treated at a medical facility.
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