Kimberly Sullivan case

Kimberly Sullivan case
Location	Waterbury, Connecticut
Date	June 2004 - February 17, 2025 8:42 PM
Attack type	false imprisonment, child abuse, torture
Victim	"S"
Perpetrator	Kimberly Sullivan
Charges	Initial Charges: first degree assault, second degree kidnapping, first degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons, first degree reckless endangerment New Charges: 2 counts of first degree kidnapping, first degree assault with extreme indifference to human life, first degree unlawful restraint, intentional cruelty to persons

The Kimberly Sullivan Case is an ongoing criminal case involving the alleged decades long abuse of a Waterbury, Connecticut man by his stepmother. Sullivan is accused of starving him and holding him captive in their home for 20 years from the time he was 11 years old until his escape at the age of 31.

On the night of February 17, 2025, the man set his room on fire to escape the captivity, weighing just 68 pounds when he was rescued. Following a police investigation of the fire, Kimberly Sullivan was arrested and charged with first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons, and first-degree reckless endangerment, charged that have since been upgraded.

Due to the magnitude of the abuse and torture and its nearly lifelong timeline for the victim, the case has garnered continuous media attention throughout the world. The case has also sparked debates over homeschooling regulations nationwide and has already led to new legislation in Connecticut. Alleged failures to intervene when the man's abuse was reported prior to his captivity have also led to updates to DCF protocols.

Background

The man, whose full name has not been released and is known publicly only as "S", was born in early 1993.

Following a divorce, due to personal struggles she felt would hinder her son, his mother gave full custody to his father, Kregg Sullivan, in the hopes that he would have a better life being raised by him.

Kregg eventually met and married Kimberly Sullivan, and the couple later had two children of their own.

Kregg passed away in January 2024 as a result of several health complications.

Abuse Allegations

Pre-Captivity

S told police that his earliest memories of being starved and locked in a room were when he was three years old, when he snuck out of his room for food and water when he was hungry. Food wrappings were eventually found, leading Kimberly to begin locking him in his room at night.

He attended elementary school until fourth grade, where his former principal recalled him being noticeably smaller and skinnier than other children his age, as well as bringing an empty, dirty lunchbox to school. He often resorted to eating out of the trash. His former principal, his teachers, the school nurse, and other school personnel reportedly called DCF well over 20 times.

S's former classmates recall clear signs of him being hungry, and often asking other children for food. Many students often complained to the principal and other teachers that S was stealing their food, and teachers would often bring food in to feed him.

Captivity

Following two checks of their home by DCF, Kimberly Sullivan pulled S from school, telling his principal that he was being enrolled in another school district, and eventually that he was being homeschooled. S was allegedly locked in an 8x9 foot storage space with sloped ceilings, which also had no heat or air conditioning. He was locked in his room for 22 to 24 hours every day, being let out in the morning to do chores. On rare occasions, he was briefly let out in the evening as well.

After being pulled from school, S stated that the only time he left his house during his captivity was when he was around 14 or 15 and Kregg took him to dump yard waste.

S was reportedly hit once, when in approximately 2005, he cut a hole in his door and snuck out of his room while he was home alone, going downstairs to eat. Following this, Kimberly slapped him, and his door was secured shut with plywood on both sides in addition to being locked.

A small radio was kept outside his room that he used to keep track of time. He used it to stay updated on world events and followed NASCAR and University of Connecticut basketball. He was given a few books per year, as well as a dictionary, and ultimately educated himself.

He was fed just two sandwiches per day, along with two small bottles of water. When asked, he told the police that he was hungry "all day, every day, my entire life." Not having access to a bathroom, he kept a bottle in his room, which he filled with some of his drinking water, and used the water to clean himself as best he could once the bottle was full. He urinated into a bottle, which he then funneled out of his window through straws, and had to defecate into a newspaper, which he would tie shut with string from old shirts and throw in the trash when he was let out in the morning.

Following the death of Kregg in January 2024, S was typically only let out for only one or two minutes per day to let Kimberly's dog out into the yard.

Escape and Rescue

Following the death of Kregg Sullivan, S was allowed to have some of his clothes, including a jacket with a lighter in the pocket.

With no prior plan to do so, on the night of February 17, 2025, S, then 31 years old, used the lighter, a bottle of hand sanitizer, printer paper, and an old stack of games to set a fire by his door.

Once the fire was too big for Kimberly to put out on her own, he started stomping and calling for help, telling Kimberly that his radio malfunctioned. Kimberly forced him to go downstairs and wash his face, not wanting first responders to take note of his appearance. He collapsed at the bottom of the stairs, staying on the ground intentionally to force the fire department to carry him out of the house. Bodycam footage released by the Waterbury Police Department shows S being carried and loaded into an ambulance. There, he immediately told the first responders that he set the fire intentionally because he "wanted his freedom", explaining that he had been held captive in the house for 20 years.

S, who is 5 foot 9, weighed only 68 pounds when he was found. Because of his small frame, the firefighters initially thought he was a young teen. In addition to his extremely emaciated appearance, he was described as having long, thick, and clumpy, unkempt hair. He was also very dirty and stated that he hadn't had a shower in more than a year. All of his teeth were rotten as well, and S told the police that his teeth broke apart as he ate.

Kimberly Sullivan's arrest warrant describes S's physical condition as "that of someone who would be at a point at the end of their life", with his skin reportedly graying. Throughout the court proceedings, the district attorney has repeatedly noted that he was in the process of dying from his starvation when he was rescued.

Legal Proceedings

On March 12, 2025, Sullivan was arrested and charged with first degree assault, second degree kidnapping, first degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons, and first degree reckless endangerment. She was released from jail after posting a $300,000 bail. Another hearing on March 26 saw the state file a motion to add GPS monitoring and house arrest as release conditions. Two days later, GPS monitoring was granted as Sullivan pled not guilty to all of the charges.

On July 8, 2025, prosecutors filed a protective order to redact S's new name and treatment location from his medical records, considered a critical piece of evidence. Sullivan and her attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, were later granted access to S's new identity and address within the medical records on October 31, though another motion to remove her ankle monitoring was denied.

One year after her arrest and initial arraignment, on March 12, 2026, Sullivan was arraigned on enhanced charges, with the charges of first degree assault and reckless endangerment being elevated to first degree assault with extreme indifference to human life. She now faces two counts of first degree kidnapping, which carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison under Connecticut law.

On July 29, Sullivan again appeared in court, and was offered a plea deal of 30 years in prison suspended after serving 20 years. The judge set her own offer of 30 years in prison suspended after serving 10 years. Sullivan rejected both deals.

Sullivan is due back in court on September 4, where she is likely to formally reject the plea deals. The case is expected to go to trial in 2027.

Impact

Immediately after Kimberly Sullivan's arrest and the news break, Connecticut lawmakers began raising concerns regarding DCF protocols, with Republican representative Joseph Polletta particularly concerned with their lack of recordkeeping following the multiple reports filed with DCF regarding S before his captivity. Several representatives met with the state's commissioner of DCF at the time, Jodi Hill-Lilly.

An "months long" internal review by DCF regarding their handling of the case revealed that case workers felt they did not have the evidence to intervene in any of the six reports they received regarding S. Following the review, they made changes to their procedures, including more involvement from superiors in investigations and more visits. A law passed in 2018 also reduced the amount of evidence needed to conduct interviews with children without their guardians.

Heavily inspired by the case, on May 4, 2026, the Connecticut General Assembly passed House Bill 5468, requiring all parents of children to submit yearly reports of how their children will be educated. The bill also bars families under DCF investigation from homeschooling their children, and families homeschooling for the first time will be checked by DCF.

See also

• List of long-term false imprisonment cases