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

[Hap]

Man held captive by stepmother for more than 20 years, Waterbury police say

A woman faces kidnapping and cruelty to persons charges for holding her stepson captive for more than 20 years, according to Waterbury police.

www.wfsb.com

He was pulled out of school in fourth grade and said that he had no contact with anyone outside of his home. The warrant says that the last two reports of 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, he 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 deceased grandmother knew of his situation

Full warrant

WARRANT AFFIDAVIT KIMBERLY SULLIVAN Redacted

www.documentcloud.org

That is absolutely horrific.

 

[tlcya]

I want to hear from these two half sisters. I'm assuming grandma may be dead? How does an entire household just accept or participate in this?? I know I will never get the answer. We never do. But I ask it every time anyway.

 

[tlcya]

Tom Pannone, who was the boy’s principal at Barnard Elementary School two decades ago, told NBC Connecticut that he always knew something was “grossly wrong” after staffers first spotted the worryingly thin child stealing food and eating out of the garbage.

“Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was 5 years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong,” Pannone said.

“We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done. That’s the tragedy of the whole thing.
Principal of severely malnourished boy held captive for decades raised red flags years ago: ‘Not a damn thing was done’

the principal says the school made at least 20 calls about their concerns for the boy. and yet this young man suffered another 20 years.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Alot of information in this article

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/waterbury/article/kim-sullivan-waterbury-kidnapping-blake-street-20217515.php

"The man was Sullivan's stepson, police said, though they did not identify him by name. He was extremely emaciated, his hair matted and unkempt and he was dirty and his teeth appeared to be rotted, according to a warrant for Sullivan's arrest."

Sullivan denied ever locking the victim inside his room, according to the warrant, and said his door is not locked and that he has free rein of the house.

Police noted a slide lock on the outside of the door frame of the room, the warrant said, which could be used to secure a door closed from the outside of the room

Here we go again if true that the state investigated Sullivan when the victim was 11 for any abuse.


"When he was in school, the victim recalled being hungry all the time, according to the warrant. He would ask other people for food, steal food and sometimes eat food out of the garbage, the warrant said.

Following involvement with the state Department of Children and Families, Sullivan pulled the victim from school, he told police, according to the warrant.'

 

[Izzylizzy]

Tom Pannone, who was the boy’s principal at Barnard Elementary School two decades ago, told NBC Connecticut that he always knew something was “grossly wrong” after staffers first spotted the worryingly thin child stealing food and eating out of the garbage.

“Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was 5 years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong,” Pannone said.

“We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done. That’s the tragedy of the whole thing.
Principal of severely malnourished boy held captive for decades raised red flags years ago: ‘Not a damn thing was done’

the principal says the school made at least 20 calls about their concerns for the boy. and yet this young man suffered another 20 years.

Hopefully there's no statue of limitations on suing CPS for negligence.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Tom Pannone, who was the boy’s principal at Barnard Elementary School two decades ago, told NBC Connecticut that he always knew something was “grossly wrong” after staffers first spotted the worryingly thin child stealing food and eating out of the garbage.

“Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was 5 years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong,” Pannone said.

“We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done. That’s the tragedy of the whole thing.
Principal of severely malnourished boy held captive for decades raised red flags years ago: ‘Not a damn thing was done’

the principal says the school made at least 20 calls about their concerns for the boy. and yet this young man suffered another 20 years.

Since "a damn thing was never done" then why didn't Pannone go to court to try and get the boy a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) or other approved program guardian ad litem.

 

[DS2021]

I don't like making comparisons between things and the holocaust, but his uncle wasn't wrong about him looking like a holocaust victim

Auschwitz and Birkenau — Shuttersmack

www.shuttersmack.com

The average weight of a woman freed from the camp was about 50 lbs, and the average weight of a man liberated was 66 lbs.

 

[Ksprincess2]

Since "a damn thing was never done" then why didn't Pannone go to court to try and get the boy a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) or other approved program guardian ad litem.

That can't just be done by anyone. A CASA is exactly what it says which is court appointed so unless there was an open court case by CPS there would have been no way to get him a CASA or GAL advocate. CPS failed this man, not the school.

Also why I believe homeschooling needs to be more tightly regulated. If you have 20 CPS reports made against you you should not be allowed to pull your kid out of school.

 

[Izzylizzy]

That can't just be done by anyone. A CASA is exactly what it says which is court appointed so unless there was an open court case by CPS there would have been no way to get him a CASA or GAL advocate. CPS failed this man, not the school.

Also why I believe homeschooling needs to be more tightly regulated. If you have 20 CPS reports made against you you should not be allowed to pull your kid out of school.

I would think that if the school made 20 calls to CPS and nothing was done that that in itself would warrant a talk with the school/district lawyer asking him to at least petition the courts to try and get help for the boy.
I agree that homeschooling needs to be tightly regulated as it's a honey pot for abusive adults.

 

[Tutter]

I am always in awe of the bravery and fight in these victims to free themselves. Like R, Ruby Frankie’s child. They didn’t break him! The human spirit is so amazing and boundless. I am heartbroken for him, but I hope he feels proud of himself and hopeful for his future.

May his step monster get what she deserves.

 

[Izzylizzy]

I am always in awe of the bravery and fight in these victims to free themselves. Like R, Ruby Frankie’s child. They didn’t break him! The human spirit is so amazing and boundless. I am heartbroken for him, but I hope he feels proud of himself and hopeful for his future.

May his step monster get what she deserves.

Hear! Hear!
And plenty of TLC is needed,body, mind and soul.

 

[DS2021]

Police detail over 20 years of abuse they say captive man suffered from stepmom

Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arrested Wednesday and accused of holding her 68-pound 32-year-old stepson captive in Connecticut.

www.nbcnews.com

Police revealed on Thursday that officers went to the home in 2005, acting on behalf of social workers who’d been contacted by school officials concerned about the then-child’s absence from class.

At the time, it appeared he was well and nothing stood out to officers, authorities said

The house was clean. It was lived-in,” Spagnolo said. “They spoke to the victim at that point in time and there were no cause for any alarm or any conditions that existed that would have led officers to believe anything other than a normal childhood in a normal family existence.”

But about a decade later, police found that the man had been locked in his room for more than 23 1/2 hours a day.


I'm assuming that's supposed to say about 2 decades later. 1 decade would've been 2015

 

[DS2021]

They've not located any cps reports but those are often purged after 5 years

The exact quote

The agency added that it regularly expunges records after five years if the investigation is completed "provided there are no other substantiated reports

 

[threesevenninefour]

They've not located any cps reports but those are often purged after 5 years

As someone from a nursing background, I’ve always found this so strange. It would be like a hospital in this day and age deleting a patient’s medical record after 5 years— not only is it inviting possible errors in continuity of care down the line, it also opens the hospital/providers up to legal action if documentation of treatment is inaccurate or cannot be found.

I’m so happy that this man was finally able to escape. I can’t imagine the horrors that he’s lived with over the years. I hope that he has all the support that can possibly be provided to him as he navigates “normal” life again.

IMO, as in many of these types of cases, someone dropped the ball. Big time.

MOO.

 

[DS2021]

As someone from a nursing background, I’ve always found this so strange. It would be like a hospital in this day and age deleting a patient’s medical record after 5 years— not only is it inviting possible errors in continuity of care down the line, it also opens the hospital/providers up to legal action if documentation of treatment is inaccurate or cannot be found.

I’m so happy that this man was finally able to escape. I can’t imagine the horrors that he’s lived with over the years. I hope that he has all the support that can possibly be provided to him as he navigates “normal” life again.

IMO, as in many of these types of cases, someone dropped the ball. Big time.

MOO.

The exact quote

The agency added that it regularly expunges records after five years if the investigation is completed "provided there are no other substantiated reports."

 

[tlcya]

They've not located any cps reports but those are often purged after 5 years

I was wondering about that earlier. She essentially held him captive so long that records of previous interactions and calls about the then child may no longer exist. I wondered about what the requirements are as far as record keeping for child welfare agencies.

 

[threesevenninefour]

The exact quote

The agency added that it regularly expunges records after five years if the investigation is completed "provided there are no other substantiated reports."

Yes, but to me that’s like a hospital expunging records if there was nothing “serious” found upon admission to the ER. Something still warranted the visit and that should be recorded as a background for possible future involvement, at the very least. But, again, I may be thinking more from a healthcare perspective. There may be a better reason why that is the policy in the child welfare system.

MOO.

 

[vls12345]

It seems that in this day and age of electronic storage capabilities (and backups), CPS, hospitals, etc. should keep records, regardless of how old, during the lifetime (plus a few years after) of the person in the record. It's not like they need to rent climate-controlled warehouses to store decades of physical records in order to do so. MOO.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Police detail over 20 years of abuse they say captive man suffered from stepmom

Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arrested Wednesday and accused of holding her 68-pound 32-year-old stepson captive in Connecticut.

www.nbcnews.com

Police revealed on Thursday that officers went to the home in 2005, acting on behalf of social workers who’d been contacted by school officials concerned about the then-child’s absence from class.

At the time, it appeared he was well and nothing stood out to officers, authorities said

The house was clean. It was lived-in,” Spagnolo said. “They spoke to the victim at that point in time and there were no cause for any alarm or any conditions that existed that would have led officers to believe anything other than a normal childhood in a normal family existence.”

But about a decade later, police found that the man had been locked in his room for more than 23 1/2 hours a day.


I'm assuming that's supposed to say about 2 decades later. 1 decade would've been 2015

So the victim would have been 12 yrs old when questioned by LE.
Curious if that is when KS took him out of school to homeschool?

This:

"Also in 2005, the family made a complaint against the school district, accusing it of harassment.

"We have no further information about where that went, other than there was no proof provided by the family that there was any type of harassment that was occurring," the police chief said. "

 

[alexwood]

I blame the person who brought this horrific woman into the child's life to begin with. How does someone let another person run roughshod over a child?