CNN
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Police in Waterbury, Connecticut, have released photos from inside a house where a man was allegedly held captive by his stepmother for 20 years.

The unnamed man, who in February escaped the house by starting a fire with printer paper and hand sanitizer, told police he was locked in a small room secured with plywood and a lock.

For years, the man was given minimal food and water, he told police.

The more than 100 photos obtained through CNN affiliate WFSB reveal the true extent of how dire conditions were for the man who police say emerged “extremely emaciated” –– 32-years-old, 5-foot-9, and weighing roughly 70 pounds.

Many of the photos WFSB received from Waterbury police show the inside of the house in evidently poor condition –– with some rooms clearly charred from a fire, and others cluttered and decrepit from a lack of care and maintenance.

Mold and broken floorboards are seen throughout the house, with some carpeted areas covered in dirt and trash. Part of the house’s ceiling appeared broken, with beams exposed. Many of the windows are covered with plywood.

In one photo, a bedroom with a bright pink wall is littered with random objects, including a printer. Another photo of a bathroom shows broken wall insulation, glass and cardboard boxes on the floor.

It is unclear which room belonged to the man who was purportedly held captive, though several close-ups of charred door frames and locks were captured by police.

The man’s stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, managed to escape her burning house and has since been accused by authorities of locking her stepson up and starving him for decades.

Last week she pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and felony assault charges and was released on a $300,000 bond.

“As horrible as the allegations are, and as much as people don’t want to hear it, she is not guilty in the eyes of the law, and that’s not going to change anytime soon, no matter how many millions of people hate her,” Sullivan’s attorney Ioannis Kaloidis said.

The Waterbury Department of Children and Families recently said it found archived records from 2005 naming Kimberly Sullivan and her stepson, according to WFSB, after previously stating that unsubstantiated claims were deleted five years after the police were in the house for a welfare check.

“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,” DCF Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly said in a statement to WFSB.

The man told police he met with DCF twice when he was in fourth grade to complain about his living conditions before his stepmother pulled him out of school.

He told police his stepmother instructed him at that time to tell the department everything was fine. Police conducting the welfare checks reported there was nothing suspicious.

The last time the man left the property was with his father, when he was around 14 or 15. After his father died in 2024, the alleged captivity got more restrictive, he told police.

The man stated “it got to a point where the only time he would ever be out of the house once his father died was to let the family dog out in the back of the property,” according to an affidavit.

Those outings were “only about 1 minute a day” as he “essentially, was locked in his room between 22 to 24 hours a day,” the sworn statement said.

A year ago, the man told police, he found a lighter in a jacket that belonged to his late father. That’s when he started devising a plan to escape.

“There’s a lot of physical therapy that he’ll have to go through,” Waterbury Police Chief Fred Spagnolo said. “There’s a lot of healing that he’ll have to go through mentally.”

Waterbury detectives, themselves shaken by the inhumanity they say they’ve been investigating, took up a collection to buy the man clothes, books and other items that might make him more comfortable.

As for the newly freed man, Waterbury Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski said, “We’re committed to supporting him in every way possible as he begins to heal from this unimaginable trauma.”

Members of the state’s transgender community expressed joy and pride on International Transgender Day of Visibility with an afternoon of impassioned speeches, calls to action, and laughter at the Capitol.

In the face of threats to their safety and attacks on their rights at the national level, many said they also felt grateful to call Connecticut home.

“The price of being an out, trans, gender non-conforming, non-binary American, is to risk everything: our relationships, our jobs, our rights, and I’m afraid, potentially, our freedom,” said Dawn Ennis, one of the organizers of West Hartford Pride. “I don’t need to tell you the stakes. I don’t need to tell you what you’re risking — what I’m risking — just by being visible.”

Connecticut has emerged as a relative safe haven for the transgender community over the past few months, since President Donald Trump returned to office and issued a flurry of executive orders targeting their rights. They include prohibitions on transgender girls from participating in school sports teams, a ban of transgender service members in the military and a ban on children under 19 from accessing gender-affirming care.

Lawsuits challenging those orders have in turn been working their way through the courts. But despite having policies that support the transgender community, Connecticut has so far flown under the radar, even as Maine’s Gov. Janet Mills was reprimanded in-person by Trump at a White House event for refusing to ban transgender athletes. Her state has seen numerous targeted funding cuts since.

At a recent Connecticut Mirror event, Gov. Ned Lamont, who was sitting next to Mills at the time of her confrontation with Trump, recalled watching how Mills handled the heat.

“I was really proud of Janet Mills to tell you the truth,” Lamont said. “I thought Janet Mills handled it just right.”

In 2024, Connecticut also took steps to launch a tourism initiative to let members of the LGBTQ+ community know that they can find acceptance in the state.

And on Monday Lamont wrote on X: “Trans people are people just like everyone else and deserve to have their rights protected. To the transgender community in Connecticut: We see you, we celebrate you, and we’ve got your back.”

But Connecticut has also been a site of controversy on the issue. A lawsuit filed by female athletes opposing transgender athletes from participating on sports teams, was filed in a Connecticut district court, and one of the country’s most prominent activists opposing transgender athletes lives in Darien.

Aaron Miller, a transgender pastor, told Monday’s gathering that today’s attacks are history repeating itself.

“These times are not new to us. Some of us, many of us here, have lived this before — and we know what Stonewall was,” said Aaron Miller, a transgender man and pastor. Miller was citing the confrontations between members of the gay community and police at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village in 1969 that served as a turning point in that community’s struggle for civil rights. “It’s time for another movement, but this time for the transgender community.”

Rep. MJ Shannon, D-Milford, a 24-year-old lawmaker and member of the LGBTQ+ Caucus, pledged to support the transgender community. “Through our work here at the legislature, we’re making sure that trans voices are not just heard — they’re at the center of the policies and initiatives that shape our state,” Shannon said. “Because visibility isn’t just about being seen. It’s about being respected, protected and valued in every space, whether it’s our schools, our workplaces, our health care systems or our homes.”

June Carpenter, a 17-year-old transgender high school senior student, was among the speakers who emphasized the importance of celebrating her identity joyously. She said that too often the discussion of trans lives are rooted in struggle and resilience against adversity.

“While these narratives are valid, they are not everything,” she said. “Our lives are not solely about struggle. They’re about thriving, about love, about laughter, about the simple yet radical act of existing in a world that often misunderstands us.”

Brianna Skowera, the organizer of Middletown Pride, said that she remembers a time when transgender people were pushed to the margins. She celebrated their role in every corner of society.

“We are journalists, we are activists, we are celebrities, we are authors who are proud of our journey,” Skowera said. “But even more important, we are visible in the day-to-day life in our communities. Trans people are grocery store clerks, we are baristas, we are phone operators, we are homemakers, we are parents, we are teachers. We are the neighbors that you live with.”

Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, who served as the master of ceremony at the event, said that while Transgender Day of Visibility had been celebrated at the capitol in the past, Monday’s event carried more weight.

“As you’ve heard from these speakers, the threats are greater,” Bysiewicz said. “There’s so much hate, so much attempt to divide and discriminate, I think it makes today’s celebration so much more important.”

A local immigration attorney warned Monday that undocumented Venezuelan immigrants in Connecticut have until April 7 to apply for Temporary Protected Status, which allows them to work legally.

Dennis Bradley said, “I really want the local Venezuelan community to know that temporary protected status is still available for them, that they should try to seek that form of relief, and for those who also qualify in our local Venezuelan community, asylum continues to be a form of relief for many folks who are seeking a permanent stay here in the United States.” He noted applications can be filed online.