The state Department of Children and Families now says it has found records pertaining to the family of a man who told police he had been held captive in the family’s Waterbury home for 20 years and was given little food and water over the decades.
Police said the man, who is now 32 years old, was only 68 pounds when he was rescued from the burning home in February.
He told police that he last attended school when he was in the fourth grade, that his stepmother held him captive for 20 years and he set the fire to gain his freedom, according to the arrest warrant for his stepmother.
State police have arrested his stepmother, 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, and charged her with assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the first degree. She was released on $300,000 bond and was ordered on Friday to be on GPS monitoring.
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Sullivan has denied the allegations.
The victim told police that he had been taken out of school after the Department of Children and Families visited his house twice because of what he was doing at school to seek out food, according to the arrest warrant.
After Sullivan was arrested, Tom Pannone, the former principal of the now-closed Barnard Elementary School in Waterbury, said he and his staff had concerns about the boy when he was at the school more than 20 years ago. Pannone told NBC Connecticut he called Sullivan several times and called the Department of Children and Families about his concerns at least 20 times.
The commissioner of the state Department of Department of Children and Families, Jodi Hill-Lilly, said after Sullivan’s arrest that the agency had been "unable to locate any records pertaining to this family nor any records connected to the names of others who have indicated they made reports to our Department."
DCF expunges reports of abuse or neglect after five years if they have been investigated and not substantiated, according to Hill-Lilly.
On Friday, Hill-Lilly issued a new statement about what they found since and said that they found records in the “archived closed records” and they are reviewing them, assessing their work with the family more than 20 years ago, and will provide them to the police department once they have finished the search and reviewing them.
Watch "Waterbury Man Held Captive," an NBC Connecticut special report
The full statement follows:
"Our hearts remain with this young man who demonstrated incredible strength and courage. We also keep in our thoughts his extended family members, friends and others who have been impacted.
“We are providing this updated statement as to our efforts over the past two weeks to understand the Agency's involvement more fully with this family.
“The Department first conducted an extensive search of our computerized database referred to as LINK. There were no records located in that system related to this case. Unsubstantiated investigations and investigation protocols are expunged in the electronic case record after five (5) years unless a subsequent investigation is substantiated in accordance with state law.
“We then conducted a search of our archived Closed Records, which are retained in accordance with policy and retention schedules established by the Connecticut State Library, Office of the Public Records Administrator. Records were located in the archived Closed Records, and the Department is currently reviewing them for purposes of assessing our work with the family over 20 years ago and to inform any need for current statutory or practice reforms.
“We have met with the Waterbury Police Department and engaged in discussions with the Office of the Child Advocate to advise them of our actions and will provide them a copy of the records once we have completed our search and review of them. Several meetings have also been held with bipartisan Legislators.
“After we have completed a comprehensive assessment of our prior involvement, the Department will be as transparent as possible in sharing our results while working within the parameters of both federal and state confidentiality laws.
We continue to ask anyone who may have information related to the matter to contact Law Enforcement.”
