CT - 32-year-old man held captive by stepmother Kimberly Sullivan since age 11, weighs 68 lbs, sets fire to home to escape, 17 Feb 2025 *Arrest*

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  • #161
  • #162
“I remember he would bring a lunch bag but there wasn’t really anything in there so he’s looking around and he sees us eating,” she said. “Back then, I was obsessed with ham sandwiches and mustard, and I would just give him half or I would just give him my lunch.”

Sanchez said the victim had dark eyes, purple lips and wore baggy clothes. She remembers he had a smaller frame than the other students. Sanchez doesn’t recall seeing him outside of school during holidays or summer vacation. After Sullivan pulled the victim out of school, detailed in court documents, Sanchez thought he and his family had moved away.

“A lot of us went to Chase Park right across the street from where he lived and you wouldn’t think just the street over there was a kid locked in a room,” she said.

Police and lawyers are combing through evidence, trying to find out what really happened inside the home. In the meantime, Sanchez has this message for her former schoolmate.

“Many of his former classmates do still care for him,” she said. “We are hoping he pushes through and hopefully he heals fully.”

 
  • #163
“Thirty-two years ago, due to personal reasons, and for the full benefit of my son, I made the gut-wrenching decision to give full custody to my ex-husband. This was the most painful, emotional decision any mother can make, but I thought he would have a better life. In retrospect, this did not come to pass. For the last 30 years, my family and I have searched for him to reconnect only to be turned away and shut out,” the woman stated
www.wfsb.com

Biological mother of Waterbury captivity victim provides statement

The biological mother of a man who was supposedly held captive by his stepmother in Waterbury for about 20 years released a statement.
www.wfsb.com www.wfsb.com
 
  • #164
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  • #165
Anyone who knew that an adult man who weighed that was in the house …
His sisters …
His mother, who MOO: has absolved herself of it all and did a long time ago, and MOO: may not have been working with much in the way of resources to begin with …

I’m a fan of homeschooling in general, I like parental autonomy, but this case sheds light on why I hope we move toward annual social services monitoring of homeschooling as a federal matter. I want the comfort of knowing that when a kid vanishes from school, someone with social services training is checking on the whereabouts and well-being of that kid and is sounding an alarm if things are amiss. I want that protection for the 100th kid (which is what this guy was) and can stomach the inconvenience to the other 99. MOO: the lost sheep. I hope we all can, eventually.
 
  • #166
I’m less interested in the mother. I think others have made a strong case on this thread that it was essentially a consented adoption and she was believably trying for the best, decades ago. I’m more interested in a failure of controls where a fourth grader vanished out of a Connecticut school system - arguably the strongest state school system in the country - and reappeared nowhere, no requested records from any other district, and this was allowed to go on. We societally allowed that. A kid disappeared off our community radar and was horribly abused, and we prioritized the rights of individuals and families over the defense of that kid. I don’t want to do that. I want to appear at the pearly gates one day able to say, I defended the weakest among us. I hope others agree.
 
  • #167
If I am Ned Lamont, a proud son of Greenwich, a man of virtually limitless means, I am asking tonight: can Connecticut social services pull me a report of every child, grades 1-8, from 2005 to today, who was withdrawn from a public elementary school and whose records were never requested by or transferred to another academic institution? I guarantee you we’d find 50+ cases of severe abuse and kids living in basements and illiterate adults and - worst - families collecting social services checks for minors that no one can find. If he’s willing to open Pandora’s box, I hope he does it. Connecticut is not California or Texas, this is an approachable list and task in terms of size. This reminds me honestly of when the Catholic Church was forced to get serious about abuse, Boston Globe Spotlight did the reporting and the numbers were plainly staggering. This is occurring in front of our faces. Ned Lamont has a chance now to be a hero. Let’s see if he has the courage.
 
  • #168
caradana said:
Anyone who knew that an adult man who weighed that was in the house …
His sisters …
His mother, who MOO: has absolved herself of it all and did a long time ago, and MOO: may not have been working with much in the way of resources to begin with …

I’m a fan of homeschooling in general, I like parental autonomy, but this case sheds light on why I hope we move toward annual social services monitoring of homeschooling as a federal matter. I want the comfort of knowing that when a kid vanishes from school, someone with social services training is checking on the whereabouts and well-being of that kid and is sounding an alarm if things are amiss. I want that protection for the 100th kid (which is what this guy was) and can stomach the inconvenience to the other 99. MOO: the lost sheep. I hope we all can, eventually.
Click to expand...
BBM:
imo:
A school psychologist and a school nurse along with someone from CPS.
CPS goes on their own so no caving from them to school representatives.
Then reports can be compared.
CPS has a horrific history of dropping the ball in many of these cases of extreme abuse and with children being killed.
 
  • #169
Izzylizzy said:
BBM:
imo:
A school psychologist and a school nurse along with someone from CPS.
CPS goes on their own so no caving from them to school representatives.
Then reports can be compared.
CPS has a horrific history of dropping the ball in many of these cases of extreme abuse and with children being killed.
Click to expand...
I think a collaborative force like you suggest is a powerful and excellent idea. This reminds me of the PDs in the US who are sending social workers on DV calls with police. That strikes me as smart, so long as they are kept physically safe. There is a parallel to be made here.
MOO: Flawed organization for sure, CPS. Highly imperfect. But does it beat nothing? Yes. I want someone imperfect knocking on the door over a perfect nothing. In this case, there was nothing.
 
  • #170
  • #171
caradana said:
Anyone who knew that an adult man who weighed that was in the house …
His sisters …
His mother, who MOO: has absolved herself of it all and did a long time ago, and MOO: may not have been working with much in the way of resources to begin with …

I’m a fan of homeschooling in general, I like parental autonomy, but this case sheds light on why I hope we move toward annual social services monitoring of homeschooling as a federal matter. I want the comfort of knowing that when a kid vanishes from school, someone with social services training is checking on the whereabouts and well-being of that kid and is sounding an alarm if things are amiss. I want that protection for the 100th kid (which is what this guy was) and can stomach the inconvenience to the other 99. MOO: the lost sheep. I hope we all can, eventually.
Click to expand...
BBM:
KS sure had the resources to send both daughters to Catholic school and so far nothing has been reported that she's ever been accused of abusing them.
I gather you were referring to material "resources" ?
 
  • #172
caradana said:
I’m less interested in the mother. I think others have made a strong case on this thread that it was essentially a consented adoption and she was believably trying for the best, decades ago. I’m more interested in a failure of controls where a fourth grader vanished out of a Connecticut school system - arguably the strongest state school system in the country - and reappeared nowhere, no requested records from any other district, and this was allowed to go on. We societally allowed that. A kid disappeared off our community radar and was horribly abused, and we prioritized the rights of individuals and families over the defense of that kid. I don’t want to do that. I want to appear at the pearly gates one day able to say, I defended the weakest among us. I hope others agree.
Click to expand...
Connecticut is one of the 2-3 states that has the most lax homeschooling regulations so hopefully this tragedy will get the state to start cracking down.
Links were posted here to Conn, homeschooling.
Sen Jim Hines and then Connecticut state is a Democratic Trifecta.
Now's the time for them to make their move.
 
  • #173
caradana said:
I think a collaborative force like you suggest is a powerful and excellent idea. This reminds me of the PDs in the US who are sending social workers on DV calls with police. That strikes me as smart, so long as they are kept physically safe. There is a parallel to be made here.
MOO: Flawed organization for sure, CPS. Highly imperfect. But does it beat nothing? Yes. I want someone imperfect knocking on the door over a perfect nothing. In this case, there was nothing.
Click to expand...
I don't know about other states but Connecticut CPS claimed they have no record of the schools abuse calls because records get expunged after 5 yrs.
Another state law is needed mandating records be kept.
 
  • #174
This case not only reminds me of the Turpins, but also of Genie, who was forcibly isolated and was never able to develop language.

en.wikipedia.org

Genie (feral child) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
  • #175
caradana said:
If I am Ned Lamont, a proud son of Greenwich, a man of virtually limitless means, I am asking tonight: can Connecticut social services pull me a report of every child, grades 1-8, from 2005 to today, who was withdrawn from a public elementary school and whose records were never requested by or transferred to another academic institution? I guarantee you we’d find 50+ cases of severe abuse and kids living in basements and illiterate adults and - worst - families collecting social services checks for minors that no one can find. If he’s willing to open Pandora’s box, I hope he does it. Connecticut is not California or Texas, this is an approachable list and task in terms of size. This reminds me honestly of when the Catholic Church was forced to get serious about abuse, Boston Globe Spotlight did the reporting and the numbers were plainly staggering. This is occurring in front of our faces. Ned Lamont has a chance now to be a hero. Let’s see if he has the courage.
Click to expand...
Put up some links to Ned pls
 
  • #176
There is some sweet news at the end of the article about the young man.

Oh god.

"It's a call Waterbury Fire Department Captain Jon Paul Oldham said will now always stick out in his mind.

"I saw, the mother and, at the time, what I thought was a child, in the kitchen. He was in the fetal position in the kitchen,” Oldham said.

www.nbcconnecticut.com

‘He put a lot of trust in us': Waterbury FD speaks out about rescuing man who says he was held captive

NBC Connecticut spoke to the Waterbury Fire Department about a call that changed the course of one man’s life. Police say a Waterbury man intentionally set his house on fire to escape 20 years of captivity his stepmother is accused of creating. It’s a call Waterbury Fire Department Captain Jon...
www.nbcconnecticut.com www.nbcconnecticut.com
 
  • #177
Something that I haven't seen mentioned that really stands out to me is that the young man is extremely intelligent to have learned so many things on his own and figured out so many coping strategies. Malnutrition/starvation is unbelievably hard on the brain, especially on a developing one. His cognitive abilities were massively stunted for years yet he still managed to do all that he did!

There are a couple of kids in my neighborhood who were severely neglected as young children. They are now older teens, and two years apart. The differences (physically and mentally) between the kids are staggering and I honestly believe that the additional two years of adequate nutrition and stimulation provided to the younger kid a gave him a huge developmental boost. It's been wild to see this sort of thing play out in real life.
 
  • #178
  • #179
annemc2 said:
Something that I haven't seen mentioned that really stands out to me is that the young man is extremely intelligent to have learned so many things on his own and figured out so many coping strategies. Malnutrition/starvation is unbelievably hard on the brain, especially on a developing one. His cognitive abilities were massively stunted for years yet he still managed to do all that he did!

There are a couple of kids in my neighborhood who were severely neglected as young children. They are now older teens, and two years apart. The differences (physically and mentally) between the kids are staggering and I honestly believe that the additional two years of adequate nutrition and stimulation provided to the younger kid a gave him a huge developmental boost. It's been wild to see this sort of thing play out in real life.
Click to expand...
My dad (RIP) was a substitute teacher for many years, and when large numbers of refugees started coming to our city, he recognized that some of those kids were always going to have trouble adjusting to life, due to malnutrition in their earlier years. Even not going to school until they were, say, 12 years old didn't affect them as much as this.
 
  • #180
annemc2 said:
Something that I haven't seen mentioned that really stands out to me is that the young man is extremely intelligent to have learned so many things on his own and figured out so many coping strategies. Malnutrition/starvation is unbelievably hard on the brain, especially on a developing one. His cognitive abilities were massively stunted for years yet he still managed to do all that he did!

There are a couple of kids in my neighborhood who were severely neglected as young children. They are now older teens, and two years apart. The differences (physically and mentally) between the kids are staggering and I honestly believe that the additional two years of adequate nutrition and stimulation provided to the younger kid a gave him a huge developmental boost. It's been wild to see this sort of thing play out in real life.
Click to expand...
imo
It's heartbreaking what his despicable father & KS did to him.
They are evil personified.
The prior principal at his school said he was a good kid and had no academic difficulty.

Hearing all this brings a smile even though it's a bitter-sweet one.

"He's got the best, some of the best medical professionals that I’ve ever really seen on the job, caring for him right now,” Brownell said.

When he was rescued, police say the 32-year-old man’s malnourishment was at a life-threatening level.

Brownell has had multiple conversations with the stepson. He said he has a tremendous sense of humor and is great at conversation.

"It's his spirit that really kind of sucks everybody in and you're almost in the presence of, like, a different being in some way,” Brownell said.




www.nbcconnecticut.com

‘He put a lot of trust in us': Waterbury FD speaks out about rescuing man who says he was held captive

NBC Connecticut spoke to the Waterbury Fire Department about a call that changed the course of one man’s life. Police say a Waterbury man intentionally set his house on fire to escape 20 years of captivity his stepmother is accused of creating. It’s a call Waterbury Fire Department Captain Jon...
www.nbcconnecticut.com www.nbcconnecticut.com
 
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