Authorities in Waterbury, Connecticut, have released a series of harrowing photos offering a look inside what they’ve described as a “house of horrors" where a stepson was allegedly held captive by his stepmother for over 20 years.
On Monday (March 31), police officials unveiled disturbing images showing the aftermath of a fire that ultimately led to the rescue of a man who says he was imprisoned there for more than 20 years by his stepmother, The New York Post reported.
The photos reveal rooms blanketed in soot, cluttered with debris, and ravaged by flames. Burned furniture, charred walls, and melted piles of clothing paint a grim picture of the conditions the man claims he was forced to live in.
One image features a door seemingly reinforced with painted plywood, though police did not confirm whether it belonged to the cramped 9-by-8-foot storage space the man says served as his prison.
The 32-year-old victim, who has not been publicly identified, weighed just 68 pounds when fire crews pulled him from the burning home on March 11. He told authorities that Kimberly Sullivan, 57, had imprisoned him since he was 11 years old.
Sullivan was arrested earlier this month and charged with a slew of crimes, including first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons, and first-degree reckless endangerment. She was released after posting $300,000 bail and has denied all allegations.
According to the victim, Sullivan regularly withheld food and water, forcing him to drink from the toilet just to survive.
He recalled scavenging food from garbage cans or stealing classmates' lunches when he was still allowed to attend school - behavior that caught the attention of school staff.
The Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) reportedly visited the home twice in the early 2000s, but no records remain. Investigations are deleted from their systems after five years without receiving any new information.
After the boy's biological father died in 2024, his stepmother allegedly intensified the confinement by locking him inside the makeshift cell nearly 24 hours a day. He told police that threats of more extreme punishments kept him from reaching out for help.
The man described having to cut his hair, not bathing for years, and never seeing a dentist. At times, he said, his teeth were so decayed they shattered when he bit into his meager rations, often just a sandwich or two a day.
Prosecutors compared the victim’s condition to that of Holocaust survivors, describing him as “without exaggeration, akin to a survivor of Auschwitz’s death camp”.
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo called the situation “shuddering,” added that in his 33 years in law enforcement, the house of horrors was "the worst treatment of humanity that I’ve ever witnessed".
Sullivan pleaded not guilty in court last week. During the hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Donald Therkildsen revealed that a longtime friend of Sullivan’s had come forward, claiming she had never once mentioned having a stepson.
"A friend of the defendant's of 21 years has come forward and provided a written statement to the state, to the police that in the 21 years she's known this defendant, she's never spoken of a stepson," Therkildsen told the court, per NBC News.
He added that since the suspect's arrest, more witnesses have stepped forward. “She was shocked to learn she had a stepson and that that friend was never allowed in this house,” he said.
The victim’s biological mother, Tracy Vallerand, attended the court proceedings and later described seeing her son’s alleged abuser in person as “nauseating".
She also confirmed that her son is now being kept in an “undisclosed location” with no outside contact while the investigation into his alleged decades-long abuse continues.