Grim photos emerge from inside ‘house of horrors’ where woman ‘kept stepson captive for 20 years’

The ‘house of horrors’ where a woman allegedly kept her stepson captive for 20 years can be seen in disturbing new images. 

Kimberly Sullivan, 56, is accused of locking her stepson inside a tiny room when he was 11 years old, withholding food from him and subjecting him to relentless abuse.

She has pleaded not guilty to assault, kidnapping and cruelty charges and was released on bail after posting a $300,000 bond. 

Waterbury police have shared a series of photographs taken inside the filthy property where the alleged abuse occurred, which left the emaciated victim ‘akin to an Auschwitz survivor.’ 

Pictures show crumbling and decaying walls as well as the blackened from the remnants of a fire the man set intentionally as a last-ditch attempt to escape. 

These photos chronicle crumbling and decaying walls as well as the blackened remnants of a fire the man set intentionally as a last-ditch attempt to escape.

The man told authorities his confinement began when he was about 11 years old, when he was locked in a room without heat or air conditioning nearly all day and night and given limited food and water.

With no access to a bathroom, he devised ways to dispose of his waste, including using a series of straws that led to a hole in a window. 

Pieces of his teeth would break off when he did eat because of a lack of dental care. He saved some of his daily ration of two small water bottles to bathe without soap and cut his own hair.

The man told police that he was constantly hungry. When he was in school, he would ask classmates for food, steal food and eat out of the garbage. 

In later years when he was out of school and confined to the house, he would get two sandwiches a day and some water while locked in his room. 

These photos capture a cluttered and messy home which had fallen into disrepair. 

Junk and rubbish are piled high in almost every room, with one bathroom in particular a filthy mess. 

In another room, clothing and containers were stacked on top of one another covering almost the entire length of the space, making it near impossible to even see the ground.

But there were also glimpses of a functioning home. A small painting hung on the wall in the kitchen, with a picture of a dog on the fridge, while a room appearing to belong to Sullivan had jewelry hanging from the door. 

The years of alleged cruelty ended February 17, when he set fire to the house in Waterbury in a deliberate effort to save himself and told his story to responding police and firefighters, according to the arrest warrant.

In several of the pictures newly released by police, the fire damage is obvious. However it is apparent that the blaze did not reach several areas of the house which appear to be inhabited by Sullivan.

The filthier rooms which appear abandoned and rundown are those which appear to have been most impacted by the proximity of the fire, which started in the victim’s room. 

The man’s father died last year, while his biological mother has not been a part of his life, authorities said.

Medical personnel said the man was near starvation and had wasting syndrome when he got to a hospital. 

At five feet, nine inches tall he weighed only 69 pounds. 

He was treated for smoke inhalation and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Sullivan’s attorney Ioannis A. Kaloidis told Daily Mail that it was her late husband, the boy’s father Kregg, who made the ‘decisions’ about his life.

She insists she encouraged better personal hygiene but ‘couldn’t force’ him to wash, and says she was ‘aware’ of his weight but wasn’t responsible for it. 

‘She completely maintains her innocence, from our perspective. These allegations are not true. They are outlandish. 

‘She was blown away when she heard these allegations,’ her lawyer said earlier this week. 

After her not guilty plea, her alleged victim reportedly asked: ‘Why is she out walking around when I was locked up in a room for 20 years?”