Northeast
“A Child Called 'It'” author says Connecticut house of horrors case is 'attempted murder'
The author of the bestselling memoir “A Child Called ‘It:’ One Child’s Courage to Survive” says allegations of child abuse against Connecticut stepmom Kimberly Sullivan are troubling.
“That is attempted murder,” Dave Pelzer told Fox News Digital, adding details of the Sullivan case are “beyond sadness.”
Sullivan, 56, was arrested March 12 in Waterbury, Connecticut, after her 32-year-old stepson set a fire at their house Feb. 27 to escape what authorities said were abusive conditions. He weighed just 68 pounds.
As chronicled in his book, which has sold millions of copies and spent several years on The New York Times Best Sellers list, Pelzer was physically and emotionally abused by his mother from ages 4 to 12.
‘MALNOURISHED MAN HELD CAPTIVE BY STEPMOM FOR DECADES SET FIRE TO HOME TO ESCAPE: ’I WANTED MY FREEDOM’
Kimberly Sullivan stands next to her attorney, Jason Spilka, during a bond hearing March 13, 2025, in Waterbury Superior Court. (Jim Shannon/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)
“I’ve worked a lot of cases — a lot of cases. This is severe. Extremely severe,” Pelzer said. “Because of the length of it and the fact, again, [the victim is] 5-foot-8 and 68 pounds. And I’m worried about his mental state.”
The Waterbury Police Department located Sullivan’s 32-year-old stepson at the home, where he admitted to setting the blaze.
The man, who has not been named, was found emaciated and told police he had been confined in the home since age 11. He said he had never received medical or dental care.
“I wanted my freedom,” he told investigators.
MAN DESCRIBES SHOCKING LIVING CONDITIONS HE ENDURED DURING 20-YEAR HOME CAPTIVITY: ‘UNIMAGINABLE’
This photo provided by the Waterbury Police Department shows Kimberly Sullivan, who was charged March 12, 2025, with kidnapping and cruelty for allegedly holding her 32-year-old stepson captive for more than 20 years. (Waterbury Police Department via AP)
According to an arrest warrant for Sullivan, the victim, identified as “Male Victim 1,” was held in a windowless 8-foot by 9-foot storage closet with no air conditioning or heat and without access to a bathroom for 20 years. He was kept inside the closet 22-24 hours per day.
He was allowed two sandwiches and two small water bottles each day, one of which he would use for bathing. He disposed of his waste using water bottles and newspaper.
Sullivan was arrested on charges of first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons and first-degree reckless endangerment.
She was released on $300,000 bail.
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Kimberly Sullivan was arrested after allegedly abusing her stepson in their Waterbury, Conn., home. (Jim Shannon/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)
Despite the fact the victim was sometimes allowed out of the house to let out the family dog and do chores, Pelzer said victims of extreme abuse do not run because they are conditioned by their parents into thinking that the abuse they face is normal.
“I’ve got to tell you, when I went to court, when I was being made a permanent ward of the court, I was with my beautiful social worker. God bless her,” Pelzer said. “And I saw my mom right across the hallway, and I forgot I had done this, but I guess I wrote a note to my mom saying, ‘Dear mom, I’m so sorry about this.’
PARIS HILTON URGES HOUSE TO PASS ‘STOP INSTITUTIONAL CHILD ABUSE ACT’ AFTER SENATE’S UNANIMOUS APPROVAL
Kimberly Sullivan is taken into custody by the Waterbury Police Department March 12. (Waterbury Police Department)
“I remember one time I was going to run away,” he said. “I think I was 6, and I had it all planned out. I stole an apple pie and brought it into the basement. They were gone for an afternoon for family affair or whatever, and I was about to run away. I thought, ‘Where am I going to go? Who’s going to take me in?’”
While there have been reports the Connecticut Department of Children and Families visited the Sullivan home in response to reports from the victim’s school, Pelzer explained that abusive parents often have a unique ability to manipulate authorities.
Read Kimberly Sullivan’s arrest warrant: Mobile users click here
“We are shocked and saddened for the victim and at the unspeakable conditions he endured. The now adult victim has shown incredible strength and resilience during this time of healing, and our hearts go out to him,” the department said in a statement.
The department noted there are no records of visits to the Sullivan home on file because reports of neglect and abuse that are unsubstantiated are expunged from its system after five years.
Pelzer said he hopes a caring family member will support the victim, who will have limited state resources for recovery as an adult.
Fox News Digital reached out to two of the victim’s sisters and Sullivan’s attorney.
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Northeast
Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente identified as Brown University and MIT shooting suspect, found dead
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Authorities have identified the suspect in Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University, which left two students dead and nine injured during a finals week review session, as the same man believed to have carried out the murder of a renowned nuclear scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology days later.
His name is Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, according to Providence police.
He was found dead Thursday evening, authorities announced at a press briefing Thursday evening, after law enforcement officers in tactical gear were seen outside a storage unit linked to him in Salem, New Hampshire, for hours.
Neves-Valente, 48, was a Portuguese national and studied at Brown from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001 to study physics, according to Brown President Christina Paxson. But he went on a leave of absence and ultimately withdrew in 2003.
BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT MOURNS SLAIN FRIEND ELLA COOK AFTER CAMPUS SHOOTING, CALLS IT A ‘DEVASTATING LOSS’
A split image shows Claudio Neves-Valente, identified as the Brown University gunman, wearing the same jacket as a man identified earlier as a person of interest in the case. (Providence Police Department)
A man with the same name was also terminated from a monitor position at the Instituto Superior Tecnico in Portugal in 2000, school records show. Authorities said they believe he is the same person as the killer.
That’s also the same university attended by the renowned MIT nuclear physics professor Nuno Loureiro, who suffered fatal gunshot wounds Monday at his home in Massachusetts, about 50 miles away from Brown.
Images of Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente are displayed on a projector screen at a news briefing in Providence, Rhode Island. The 48-year-old former student and Portuguese national has been identified as the gunman behind a mass shooting that killed two students and wounded nine Saturday. (Andrea Margolis/Fox News Digital)
Rhode Island authorities said that the investigation was being handled by Massachusetts authorities, who would speak for themselves. Leah B. Foley, the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, later confirmed that Neves-Valente was suspected in Loureiro’s murder too.
“This evening at approximately 9 p.m., federal agents breached a storage locker in Salem, New Hampshire, in search of Claudio Neves-Valente, a Portuguese national we believed shot and killed two Brown University students and an MIT professor in Brookline, Massachusetts,” she told reporters in a separate news briefing. “Federal agents found Neves-Valente dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
The Brown shooting happened around 4 p.m. Saturday at a finals week study session at the Barus and Holley Building on the eastern edge of campus. A motive remains unclear, and the investigation is ongoing, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told reporters.
A split image showing multiple still frames from the surveillance video taken near Brown University of a person of interest before and after a school shooting Saturday. (FBI Boston)
The building has long hosted physics and engineering classes, according to Paxson.
“I think it’s safe to assume that this man, when he was a student, spent a great deal of time in that building for classes and other activities as a Ph.D. student in physics,” Paxson said. “He has no current active affiliation with the university or campus presence.”
BROWN UNIVERSITY SHOOTING PROBE FACES HURDLES AFTER CAMPUS EMPTIES OUT AS WITNESSES SCATTER: FORMER FBI AGENT
Interior view of Barus and Holley Room 166 on the campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I. On Saturday, Dec. 13, around 4p.m., a masked man with a gun entered a review session in Barus & Holley Room 166 for ECON 0110: “Principles of Economics,” shouted something indiscernible and opened fire. (Kenna Lee/The Brown Daily Herald)
Detectives initially questioned a person of interest at a hotel outside town but ruled him out as a suspect, according to authorities.
Police spent days canvassing the neighborhood for surveillance video, which turned up images of a person of interest — a masked, stocky figure who stood around 5 feet, 8 inches tall and walked with an odd gait.
Susan Constantine, a body language expert, said one key marker is how the person of interest’s right leg bows inward while his toe points outward as he walks.
Then they shared images of a second person who they said may have information about the person they were seeking and asked for the public’s help identifying both of them.
Six of the surviving victims remained hospitalized as of Thursday afternoon in stable condition.
Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team search for evidence near the campus of Brown University, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)
The two killed were identified as Ella Cook of Alabama and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov of Virginia.
The surrounding community spent days waiting for answers, with residents on edge after the school sent students home early in the wake of the shooting.
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Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
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Boston Celtics (18-11, third in the Eastern Conference) vs. Indiana Pacers (6-24, 14th in the Eastern Conference)
Indianapolis; Friday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Indiana aims to end its three-game home slide with a win against Boston.
The Pacers have gone 4-14 against Eastern Conference teams. Indiana is 5-12 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 13.1 turnovers per game.
The Celtics are 14-8 in conference games. Boston ranks sixth in the NBA with 12.6 offensive rebounds per game led by Neemias Queta averaging 3.1.
The Pacers are shooting 42.9% from the field this season, 1.6 percentage points lower than the 44.5% the Celtics allow to opponents. The Celtics average 15.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 4.1 more made shots on average than the 11.5 per game the Pacers allow.
The teams play for the second time this season. The Celtics won the last meeting 103-95 on Dec. 23. Jaylen Brown scored 31 points to help lead the Celtics to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pascal Siakam is averaging 23.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the Pacers. T.J. McConnell is averaging 16.0 points over the last 10 games.
Payton Pritchard is shooting 43.9% and averaging 16.8 points for the Celtics. Derrick White is averaging 3.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pacers: 2-8, averaging 108.0 points, 40.7 rebounds, 22.7 assists, 7.2 steals and 5.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.9 points per game.
Celtics: 8-2, averaging 118.3 points, 43.5 rebounds, 22.7 assists, 8.1 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.6 points.
INJURIES: Pacers: Obi Toppin: out (foot), Ben Sheppard: day to day (calf), Isaiah Jackson: day to day (head), Aaron Nesmith: out (knee), Tyrese Haliburton: out for season (achilles).
Celtics: Jayson Tatum: out (achilles), Jordan Walsh: day to day (illness).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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