A man rescued from a burning home in Connecticut told a shocking story of cruelty and constant hunger as he was held captive in a single room for 20 years by his father and stepmother, according to a newly released arrest warrant.
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The man told authorities his confinement began when he was about 11 years old. He said 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 years of 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 charging his stepmother with kidnapping, cruelty to persons and other crimes.
Police were trying to determine how this could have happened without anyone noticing and whether any warning signs were missed. Investigators want to look at records from city schools and the state child welfare agency, Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said at a news conference Thursday.
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