CT Examiner | By Dave Altimari
Newly released records are raising new questions about how the Department of Children and Families handled abuse allegations involving the Waterbury man authorities say was held captive by his stepmother for more than two decades, including records showing a former DCF commissioner was involved in the agency’s early review of the case.
The records turned over Monday to the conservator for the 33-year-old man, identified in court filings only as “S,” surfaced as his attorneys accuse the state of withholding key documents while seeking to dismiss a lawsuit claiming DCF ignored repeated warning signs.
A screenshot of a 2002 DCF email included in the latest document production shows then-caseworker Vannessa Dorantes — who later served as DCF commissioner from 2019 to 2023 — and another case manager attempting to find reports involving Kimberly Sullivan, the woman now accused of kidnapping and abusing her stepson.
“I just want you to know the two records that you requested I am unable to locate,” another DCF employee wrote in the email. It’s unclear why the records were being sought or whether they were ever found.
The newly disclosed email came months after another record showed DCF had closed an investigation involving Sullivan on Dec. 11, 2001.
“The fact the former DCF commissioner Vannessa Dorantes participated in the so-called investigation of abuse allegations relating to ‘S’ is extremely troubling,” attorney Joel Faxon said Monday.
The agency confirmed Dorantes was an investigation supervisor in the Waterbury office in 2002 and said it was standard practice for investigators to request hard-copy files documenting a family’s prior involvement with DCF when reviewing a new report.
In a statement, DCF spokesperson Peter Yazbak declined to comment on the pending litigation but said their “thoughts remain with S. as he continues to heal from this incredibly difficult period of his life.”
Sullivan faces two counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of first-degree assault. She is free on $300,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Waterbury on July 29.
She was arrested in March 2025 after Waterbury firefighters responded to a blaze on Blake Street and rescued her stepson from the burning building. Investigators said “S” told firefighters he set the fire on purpose using a lighter, hand sanitizer and paper to escape from the room where he had allegedly been confined for years. Police said he weighed barely 60 pounds when he was rescued.
The Faxon Law Group is seeking permission from the state’s claim commissioner to sue DCF for allegedly mishandling the case that stretched between 1996 and 2005 and ignoring calls from Waterbury school officials concerned about how “S” had been removed from school.
Attorney General William Tong’s office recently asked Claims Commissioner Robert Shea to dismiss the case, arguing it falls beyond the three-year statute of limitations because DCF’s involvement with the family ended in 2005.
In a seven-page motion filed Monday, Faxon attorney Brittany Cates said Shea cannot fairly rule on that request because the state has not been forthcoming with turning over documents, or has completely redacted them. Among the documents turned over were 69 pages that were fully redacted, she said.
The motion asks Shea to order the state to turn over all records before holding a hearing on the motion to dismiss.
“The state has failed to acknowledge that in 2008, S lived in captivity, as an imprisoned, malnourished and psychologically damaged 15-year-old child, who was legally incompetent to file a Notice of Claim until after he obtained his freedom,” Cates said. “The concept that S ever could have made a claim under these horrific conditions is preposterous.”
In January, DCF initially produced about 140 pages of documents with some redactions. In June, Tong’s office released another 240 pages containing different material and significantly heavier redactions, along with 69 fully blacked-out pages, the motion states.
Cates said the 2002 email referencing Dorantes was omitted from DCF’s initial production.
“This material was omitted from the initial DCF response. DCF has not provided any other emails or the electronic records for S or Kimberly Sullivan,” the motion states.
Cates also argues DCF has refused to release the completed review of its handling of the Waterbury case, claiming the report remains a draft.
“DCF has not finalized the report so that it can claim it is exempt from disclosure,” the motion states. “The state is actively hiding this report from “S” and his counsel. … Production of this important documentation should be ordered as it is obviously relevant to the issues raised herein.”
Shea has scheduled a hearing on the state’s motion to dismiss in August. If he agrees with Tong’s office, the conservator could petition the state Legislature to pass a special act allowing the lawsuit to proceed despite the statute of limitations.