Disturbing revelations about the 32-year-old’s life confined in a small room within his Waterbury, Conn. residence were uncovered on Wednesday. The severely malnourished man, described as resembling a survivor of Auschwitz, endured years of captivity by resorting to desperate measures such as drinking from a toilet bowl, using bottles for urination, and subsisting on just two sandwiches daily, according to authorities. Details of the man’s harrowing existence in the locked room only came to light after his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arrested and charged in connection with the alleged abuse, likened to a horror movie by officials. The victim, weighing a mere 68 pounds, revealed the horrific conditions he endured in captivity since childhood when he set fire to the house on Feb. 17 to escape. Confined to a cramped storage space room on the second floor, bolted shut from the outside, he spent most of his day in isolation, as documented in court records. The victim disclosed receiving minimal sustenance and resorting to extreme measures for hygiene, such as collecting water in a bottle for bathing. Locked away for long hours each day, he was only released in the morning to perform household chores before being returned to his room. These revelations shed light on a distressing tale of neglect and abuse that continued for years before the victim’s daring escape.
The victim recounted his harrowing experience during police interviews following his rescue from a house fire last month. He revealed that he spent his time counting cars from a window, learning to read from a dictionary, and listening to a radio positioned outside his bedroom. His alleged captor, his stepmom, has been charged with multiple offenses including assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty, and reckless endangerment. Authorities revealed that the victim had endured more than two decades of captivity, enduring starvation and neglect. Officials described his condition as comparable to a survivor of Auschwitz’s death camp. The stepmom was arraigned on Wednesday and is being held on a $300,000 bond.
