Stepson Who Weighed 68 Pounds After 20 Years in Alleged Captivity Ate From Trash and Drank From Toilet: Warrant

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Waterbury Police Department/Facebook

Waterbury Police Department/Facebook

In an interview with a detective from the Waterbury Police Department, the victim alleged that he started drinking toilet water at the age of 3 and was removed from school after child services was called in response to him eating from the trash.

At first he just spent evenings being locked up, but that all changed when he left school at the age of 11, when he said he was removed from schools after teachers and administrators raised concerns to authorities.

“[B]y this time in his life he was always hungry so when he was at school he would ask others for their food, steal others food and sometimes eat food out of the garbage,” reads the warrant.

The victim told police that the Department of Children and Families did come to his home on two occasions and that Sullivan allegedly advised him to tell investigators that “everything was fine,” according to the warrant.

After that second visit the boy alleges that his stepmother pulled him out of school, marking the start of the victim’s alleged 21 years in captivity in which he was allegedly locked in his room, an 8x9 foot storage space with angled ceilings, for at least 22 hours a day, according to the warrant.

He was only allowed out of this room to do chores, he told police, and was forced to find new ways to relieve himself given his limited access to a toilet.

According to the warrant, the victim described urinating into a bottle, then funneling it into a tube made of straws that emptied out through a hole in the window."

When defecating, the victim said that he would place a newspaper on the ground, squat over it and then tie it up “with string he unraveled from old t-shirts” before throwing it in the kitchen garbage the next time he was allowed out of the room to do chores.

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He eventually came up with the idea to start the fire, a plan that nearly backfired after he was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

Once the man managed to recover, he told detectives he was held captive, leading to the arrest of Sullivan on charges of 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.

“The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable,” Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said in a statement.

Sullivan is maintaining her innocence, and preparing to fight the charges, according to her attorney, Ioannis A. Kaloidis.

“We would urge the public not to rush to judgment in this case, to please keep in mind that she is presumed innocent unless and until if ever, the state can prove otherwise at trial, Kalodis said in a statement to PEOPLE. “These allegations are horrific and she intends to defend them vigorously. She is innocent.And we intend to follow this case through until she’s vindicated.”

Sullivan’s bond is set at $300,000 and she is now in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections.

The victim, who is still being treated at an undisclosed facility, has yet to speak publicly about his ordeal but did tell first responders what his hopes were after setting that February blaze.

“I wanted my freedom.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com