Waterbury house at center of captivity case approved for sale

The house at the center of a decades-long captivity case in Waterbury has been approved for sale by a court.

The court has approved a buyer, a contractor, to move forward with purchasing 2 Blake Street for $165,000.

The Blake Street home is where a man who goes by the name of “S” said his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, held him captive for over twenty years.

The home has been vacant and boarded up since Sullivan was arrested in March of 2025. Officials said “S” set fire to the home a month before her arrest, telling police he did so to escape being held in captivity by Sullivan. Criminal proceedings are playing out, and Sullivan denies every allegation and maintains her innocence.

The house is the estate of Sullivan’s late husband, Kregg. It faced foreclosure starting in March, and Sullivan tried to sell the house in May. The sale was denied, and the judge noticed a discrepancy where “S” wasn’t listed as an heir in original documentation.

A third-party attorney appointed to manage the sale says the house has been vandalized.

“Young people were breaking into the house pulling off the plywood covering windows, broken the door, Ive had the locks replace twice,” said Edward Duffy, court-appointed administrator of the estate of Kregg Sullivan.

The judge said a comparative market analysis listed the house at $129,000.

The estate will get half the proceeds, and Sullivan will get the other half, but debts and other expenses must be paid first, according to the judge.

The judge put the funds in a closed bank account until further action is needed, which he stated is standard when there is no Will.

“I suspect there will be further filings in this matter to determine who is entitled to the greatest level of recovery, but we’ll address that when and if they come,” said Judge Matthew Vaccarelli of Waterbury Probate Court.

How the proceeds will be split among heirs was not decided at Tuesday’s hearing.

Neighbors said they hope the new owners are good neighbors.

“It’s been very quiet, and the police now and then be coming to check the house,” said Francesco Iovino, a Blake Street resident.

The situation is still hard for neighbors to believe over a year and a half later.

“I didn’t know until he [S] made that fire and drew attention to the fire department,” Iovino said. “I’d seen the people who lived there a couple of times on the porch, but I never saw the boy [S] himself.”

Duffy says the house is empty on the inside, except for a piece of 2×4 wood separating each room from one another.

“I wish the new owners good luck and be able to improve the neighborhood a little bit by getting rid of what doesn’t belong here,” Iovino said.

The parties haven’t closed yet, but Duffy indicated the buyer’s real estate agent was prepared to do that very soon.

NBC Connecticut has reached out to Sullivan’s probate attorney and is waiting to hear back.

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