Donations are pouring in for a Connecticut man who police say was held captive by his stepmother for more than 20 years.
The GoFundMe page was set up by Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury. The group is raising money for the man who police say was imprisoned at about the age of 11 and not set free until he was 32. Kimberly Sullivan, 56, faces several charges including second-degree kidnapping and intentional cruelty to a person.
"We are reaching out to help a Connecticut man who endured unimaginable hardship. For 20 years, he was held captive in a room, subjected to abuse, starvation, and neglect. He was rescued last month after courageously setting a fire to gain his freedom," the page states.
The page notes that the 5'9 man weighed only 68 pounds when police and firefighters responded to a fire at Sullivan's house on February 17. While being treated by first responders he told them "I wanted my freedom."
"He had been deprived of basic medical and dental care, education, suffering both physically and mentally from the abuse he endured," the page notes. So far, Safe Haven has raised more than $114,000 through the page with a stated goal of $120,000.
Sullivan's attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, has disputed the charges and the narrative about the case. "He was not locked in the room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food. She provided shelter. She is blown away by these allegations," Kaloidis told ABC News. He added that the man's late father "dictated how the boy would be raised."
The man's biological mother came forward to NBC News earlier this week. She said she'd been searching for him for decades after giving up custody when the man was a baby. The woman told NBC News that Sullivan could "rot in hell."
The man's half-sister also spoke with NBC News: "I just want him to know that he has a big sister, and I've always known he's existed, and I've always loved him, and I've always been trying to find him. I've been looking for him for over a decade. I wanted to wait till he was 18. I'm almost 35 now. And ... there was nothing. No social media, no court records, no ancestry information, nothing."
