New details have emerged in the shocking story of a 32-year-old Connecticut man allegedly held captive in a single room by his father and stepmother for 20 years.
Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arrested Wednesday, nearly a month after Waterbury police and firefighters responded to a fire the man lit inside the home Feb. 17.
While receiving medical care after the fire, the 32-year-old said he had been held captive in the home since he was 11 years old.
“I wanted my freedom,” he told first responders.
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The Waterbury Police Department Major Crimes Unit and Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office launched an extensive investigation that found the man endured prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect and inhumane treatment, according to a statement from the department.
Subsequent arrest warrants revealed the man was locked inside a room nearly 24 hours each day without heat or air conditioning, The Associated Press reported.
He was also provided two sandwiches and two bottles of water on a daily basis, which he rationed for soapless baths, according to the report.
When he was found, the man weighed just 69 pounds, standing at 5-foot-9, the AP reported. Having no access to a bathroom, he funneled his waste through straws that led to a window.
Police noted the man was starving while still attending school, often stealing food and eating out of the garbage, according to the report. When he ate, his teeth would break due to lack of dental care.
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Sullivan was arrested and is 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.
Her bond was set at $300,000, and she was later released by the Connecticut Department of Corrections.
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo called the suffering the man endured “heartbreaking and unimaginable,” noting the man has since been diagnosed with PTSD and depression.
While authorities are investigating how the man fell through the cracks as a child, Spagnolo told the AP police only had two interactions with the family, both in 2005.
One call was a welfare check prompted by reports from classmates. Another was after the family filed a harassment complaint against school officials for reporting them to state child welfare officials, according to the report.
Officers noted there was no cause for concern, Spagnolo told the AP.
The Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) said it is continuing to look for records of agency involvement, according to the report. However, unsubstantiated reports of neglect or abuse are erased five years after the conclusion of the investigation.
“We are shocked and saddened for the victim and at the unspeakable conditions he endured,” the department said in a statement to the AP. “The now adult victim has shown incredible strength and resilience during this time of healing and our hearts go out to him.”
Tom Pannone, former principal of the defunct Barnard Elementary School in Waterbury, told NBC Connecticut administrators reported the alleged abuse to police and “not a damn thing was done.”
The Waterbury Police Department, Waterbury Public Schools and Connecticut DCF did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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