{"id":12555,"date":"2025-03-13T08:55:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T08:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/man-says-he-was-held-captive-in-room-20-years-and-set-fire-to-escape-but-stepmother-denies-all\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T08:55:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T08:55:12","slug":"man-says-he-was-held-captive-in-room-20-years-and-set-fire-to-escape-but-stepmother-denies-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/man-says-he-was-held-captive-in-room-20-years-and-set-fire-to-escape-but-stepmother-denies-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Man says he was held captive in room 20 years and set fire to escape, but stepmother denies all"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><em>Waterbury, Conn.<\/em> \u2014 A Connecticut man who said he was held captive for 20 years was rescued after setting fire to his room and telling first responders he did it to gain his freedom, police said Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p>The man&#8217;s stepmother was charged with cruelty and kidnapping.  <\/p>\n<p>Waterbury first responders rescued the emaciated 32-year-old man from an upstairs room after they were deployed to a house fire last month, police said in a statement. While being treated for smoke inhalation, he revealed that he intentionally set the blaze. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I wanted my freedom,&#8221; the man said, according to police. He said he had been held captive since he was about 11 years old. <\/p>\n<p>An investigation revealed that the man, whose name was not released, &#8220;had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment,&#8221; police said, adding that he had not received medical or dental care during that time.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable,&#8221; Chief Fernando Spagnolo said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Kimberly Sullivan, 56, identified as the man&#8217;s stepmother, was charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty and reckless endangerment. She was arraigned Wednesday and held in lieu of $300,000 bond.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/03\/13\/96174641-de60-4e88-8ceb-cea54b34c971\/thumbnail\/620x413\/181f83e7b7d3a9d85d8aef7a3c4295f2\/ap25072056284596.jpg?v=066dbb4b2d59b81da3e12f1cdf8a1b39#\" alt=\"Connecticut Fire Captive Man \" height=\"413\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/03\/13\/96174641-de60-4e88-8ceb-cea54b34c971\/thumbnail\/620x413\/181f83e7b7d3a9d85d8aef7a3c4295f2\/ap25072056284596.jpg?v=066dbb4b2d59b81da3e12f1cdf8a1b39 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/03\/13\/96174641-de60-4e88-8ceb-cea54b34c971\/thumbnail\/1240x826\/5f9477635e1eeae29e0da6f34440823a\/ap25072056284596.jpg?v=066dbb4b2d59b81da3e12f1cdf8a1b39 2x\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20viewBox%3D'0%200%20620%20413'%2F%3E\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">This photo provided by the Waterbury Police Department shows Kimberly Sullivan being taken into custody on March 12, 2025 after being charged with kidnapping and cruelty for allegedly holding her 32-year-old stepson captive for more than 20 years. (Waterbury Police Department via AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Waterbury Police Department via AP<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She owns the home and was in the house when the fire started but evacuated safely, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfsb.com\/2025\/03\/12\/man-intentionally-starts-fire-home-he-was-held-captive-over-20-years-waterbury-escape\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CBS Hartford, Conn. affiliate WFSB-TV reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The man &#8220;lit a fire with some hand sanitizer, some paper from a printer, and he lit that fire while he was locked in that room from the outside. He lit that fire very well knowing he could die, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years he&#8217;d been trying to get out of that room,&#8221; a prosecutor said in court Wednesday, according to the station.<\/p>\n<p>Sullivan&#8217;s attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, said her client was &#8220;stunned to hear the allegations&#8221; and denies them. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What she indicated to me was that they were absolutely not true, and as we get more information we intend to put up a vigorous defense,&#8221; Kaloidis told The Associated Press by phone. &#8220;But she&#8217;s adamant she did not do the things that she&#8217;s accused of.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>He said he was still gathering information and couldn&#8217;t immediately say whether anyone else lived in the home.<\/p>\n<p>In court, WFSB reports, Sullivan&#8217;s lawyer said, &#8220;Absolutely not true. (The man) was not locked in a room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food and she provided shelter and she has blown away by these allegations. Absolutely not.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When he was taken to the hospital, he only weighed about 68 pounds, WFSB noted.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He was, without exaggeration, akin to a survivor of Auschwitz&#8217;s death camp,&#8221; the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>    <!-- tags --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/man-captive-20-years-fire-escape-stepmother-kimberly-sullivan\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Waterbury, Conn. \u2014 A Connecticut man who said he was held captive for 20 years was rescued after setting fire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Man says he was held captive in room 20 years and set fire to escape, but stepmother denies all - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An emaciated man, 32, says he was held in his room for 20 years and set it on fire to gain his freedom, according to police. 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