A case that has horrified the United States is now heading to court: a 57-year-old woman from Connecticut stands accused of keeping her stepson locked inside their home for more than 20 years. The man, now 34, was found by firefighters after a blaze he had set himself, which he says was the only way to escape the house that had become his prison.

His ordeal ended on 17 February 2025, when he set fire to the property. “I wanted my freedom,” he told police, describing how he used printer paper, hand sanitiser and a lighter to start the fire.

He alleges his stepmother kept him captive, and that he only knew what year it was thanks to a radio. His room measured just 6.7 square metres, and he was covered in filth when he was found, according to the New York Post.

Standing 1.75 metres tall, the man known as “S” weighed just 30.8 kilogrammes. Police said he had been “held captive for more than 20 years, suffering prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect and inhumane treatment”. He was given only minimal food and water, and needed medical treatment for smoke inhalation as soon as he was removed from the house.

“S” told police that after his biological father’s death in 2024, he was locked in his room for between 22 and 24 hours a day, and that threats of even longer confinement or being denied food stopped him telling anyone how he was living.

Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo, describing the case as one of the worst acts of inhumanity he had ever encountered.

“I was kept hidden my whole life”

“S” told investigators he passed the endless hours of isolation counting cars outside or listening to the radio for songs and basketball games.

He cut his own hair, had not bathed in years and said he had never been to a dentist. He said his teeth sometimes chipped when he bit into the meagre portions of food he was given, usually one or two sandwiches a day.

He disposed of his waste using newspapers and bottles, and had built a makeshift device using a funnel and a series of straws to channel his urine through a hole in the window.

The stepson said that although his stepfather and his two half-sisters did not actively take part in his confinement, they knew about his situation. Almost no one ever visited the house, but when someone did, he was threatened into staying silent. “I was kept hidden my whole life,” he told police.

Toilet water and removal from school

According to court documents, “S” was forced to eat scraps from the bin and drink water from the toilet simply to survive.

Spagnolo said the family first came to investigators’ attention in 2005, when staff at the victim’s school reported concerns to the Department of Children and Families (DCF), Connecticut’s child welfare agency, which visited the home twice.

The victim later told detectives that these visits, which took place when he was around 11 years old, prompted Sullivan to withdraw him from school for good.

“We reported it, nothing happened”

Tom Pannone, the boy’s principal at Barnard Elementary School two decades ago, told NBC he had always known something was “terribly wrong”, after staff first noticed the alarmingly thin child stealing food and eating out of the rubbish.

“Everybody was really concerned about this kid from the time he was five. You knew something wasn’t right. Something was going terribly wrong,” Pannone said. “We knew. We reported it. Absolutely nothing happened. That’s the tragedy of this whole case,” he added.

In a statement, the DCF said it was saddened by the “unspeakable conditions” the now adult victim had endured and praised him for the “incredible strength and resilience” he had shown, but said it had no record of ever having received a report.

“Auschwitz survivor”

Prosecutors compared the treatment of the stepson to that of Holocaust victims, describing him as, without exaggeration, comparable to a survivor of the Auschwitz camp, according to the New York Post.

Sullivan denies the charges and does not intend to accept the plea deal offered to her, which would see her plead guilty in exchange for a 30-year sentence with 10 to serve. Her lawyer, Ioannis Kaloidis, said no agreement would be reached and that he expects the 57-year-old to avoid prison altogether, according to ladbible.com.

“I don’t expect this case to result in anything involving incarceration,” the lawyer said, adding: “Kimberly hasn’t done anything wrong, so she’s surprised that any of this is even happening.”

Sullivan’s deadline to decide on the plea deal is 4 September, when she is due back in court to formally respond to it, though her lawyer has made clear the answer will be “no”.

As a result, the case is expected to go to trial, and if found guilty, the 57-year-old could face a far harsher sentence than the one offered to her under the plea agreement.

Kaloidis had previously described the charges against Sullivan as “outrageous” and “untrue”.