NHELD Files a FOIA Request to Find Out What a Connecticut State Representative Has Been Up To, After He Disbands His “Working Group” on Homeschool Regulation.

Inquiries have been made regarding NHELD’s assessment of the horrific incident of a child being held captive at his home and starved for twenty years in Waterbury, Connecticut, before setting fire to his home in order to escape. Our assessment, of course, is it is evil incarnate. We would like to make it clear, however, about what is known as fact, under oath, what is being said, not under oath, by those involved, and what questions remain. What we know as fact we can take from the arrest warrant affidavit submitted by police to the Waterbury court, which facts were taken directly from the statements of now released person known as male victim 1 (MV1). Among the most crucial facts are the following: 1. MV1 had to sneak out of his room at night at the age of three in order to try to get some food to eat from the kitchen; 2. His sneaking out of his room prompted him being locked inside his room at night from the age of three ; 3. He was enrolled in the Waterbury school system by age five , where he was “constantly hungry” and began to steal food from others and eat food from the garbage; 4. He remained in school until he was at least ten years old . What did the principal have to say about the situation when asked, not under oath, by the media? 1. He and his staff had concerns about the boy when he was in school; 2. He knew the child was extremely small and thin; 3. The boy told them he wasn’t allowed food at times at home; 4. Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was 5 years old; 5. You " knew something was wrong" . It was "grossly wrong" ; 6. Teachers would bring him food after they saw him stealing food and eating out of the garbage, saying he was constantly hungry ; 7. He “was told” at one point that the boy was homeschooled; 8. He “was told” that the student enrolled in Wolcott Public Schools; 9. By fifth grade “he never came back to school”. 10. He says “You don’t disappear off the face of the earth at 10 years old”; 11. He “hopes the student remembers the staff and how much they really loved him. Sorry we couldn’t do more.” Apparently, he did disappear off the face of the earth, for twenty years, when the alleged perpetrator’s apparent lies were believed by one and all in their wholly inept investigation and follow up, leaving the poor child to suffer for two decades. What did the Waterbury Police Chief have to say? 1. Officers investigated the stepmother years ago over treatment of the victim, in 2005 when he was in school, when other children told DCF they were worried about him; 2. The arrest warrant affidavit says two reports to police are in their files, from April of 2005, regarding the well being of MV1, noting that DCF had been sent to check on him and that staff at the school was “contacting different agencies to check on MV1”; 3. Police officers apparently reported that the house was clean, the victim said there was no cause for alarm, and officers believed he had a normal childhood. Clearly, the police failed to follow up on any kind of investigation, but simply believed, what now turns out to be an apparent lie, that there was nothing wrong with the child, despite the reports of him starving. What did DCF have to say? 1. They “looked extensively at current and historical databases” and were “ unable to locate any records of the family ” or of any others connected who indicated they made reports; 2. Now they want “anyone with information to contact police”; 3. They say they “will be as transparent as possible”. What did the Child Advocate have to say? 1. She “will be doing a preliminary review of the case”. What did the Governor have to say? 1. He “vows to get to the bottom of what happened”. What did the Chair of the legislature’s Children’s Committee have to say? 1. DCF has an “obligation to pursue” people at DCF that were working there and “figure out what was done and what could’ve been done differently”. Let’s look at each of those statements again - The evidence taken under oath indicates that: 1. MV1 was being starved at the age of three ; 2. at the age of five, he was enrolled in the public school , where everyone who knew him and knew he was constantly hungry, because they saw him steal food and eat from the garbage; 3. He was in school for at least five more years and he continued to be constantly hungry such that the teachers would bring him food. So for five years this child was starving right in front of the public school staff, and in front of other children, who all recognized he was effectively starving. The principal claims staff “loved” the boy, and he’s “sorry we couldn’t do more”. Really? Does love and effort stop at a knock on a door and a couple of calls to another agency when you are watching a child starve for five years? Couldn’t do more? Really? Of course they could have done more. They didn’t. They washed their hands of it, and the child starved for the next twenty years. The principal claims the school filed a complaint with DCF, or multiple complaints. DCF says they have no record of any complaints. Who is telling the truth? Anybody? Where is the evidence? Clearly, if complaints were made, DCF took no further action because the child continued to starve, again, for the next twenty years. The police say they have a record of two reports to them, in 2005, and apparently they saw nothing wrong. Their investigation appears to consist of visiting the house and believing what the alleged perpetrator told them, which we now know was not true. This is the kind of thorough investigation we can expect from local police? How many other perpetrators lie to police and get away with their crime? What about the Child Advocate? Where was she all of this time? How well does her agency work in overseeing DCF or the safety of children in this State, when all of these agencies failed this child? Does the Child Advocate ever follow up on how any of the agencies “investigate” alleged child abuse? Apparently, if she does, the protocols involved clearly failed. For five years, everyone in the school who had contact with the boy knew something was “grossly wrong” because he was starving, and although they may have contacted DCF, when DCF did nothing about it, why didn’t the school staff take any further action? Why didn’t they go to the DCF Commissioner? Or to the police? Or to the Child Advocate? Or to the Governor? Or to the Children’s Committee? Or to the media? The school could have complained that they made a report about a starving child and nobody helped the poor child. Apparently, they did nothing further, for five years and thereafter. Did the principal contact the Board of Education and ask for official assistance from the Board in following up to help this child? Did the principal or the Board contact its lawyer and ask what else could be done for this child? Did anyone from the school, or any of these agencies, do even a modicum of research of the existing law to see what else could be done? Just one quick glance at the law in existence in 2005 shows that a whole team could have tackled the case. Under General Statutes §17a-105a, at the time, that law stated, “within the Division of State Police within the Department of Public Safety a c hild abuse and neglect unit which, within available resources, shall (1) a t the request of the Commissioner of Children and Families or the head of the local law enforcement agency or such person’s designee, assist a multidisciplinary team established pursuant to section 17a-106a in the investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect…” Did anyone contact the State Police to seek or obtain team assistance? Did DCF perhaps think to go to a court for permission to temporarily remove the child for a 96 hour hold to determine if the child actually was starving, when everyone at the school knew he was starving? Clearly, they did not. After all, they claim they have absolutely no records, at all, about this child. What’s worse, they are not asking to receive any information about this child. They only are asking the public to report anything they know about this child to the police . So, the school knew f or at least five years that the child was starving , and while they may have reported it to DCF, they failed to follow up to get him the help that he needed. The child was in front of their eyes starving for five years - think about that. The police went to the house and also did nothing further. DCF may have gone to the house and did nothing further either, and kept no records about it even being reported. The school did nothing further, although being on the front lines, they could have done so very much more. Instead, all of these government agencies utterly failed this child to the point of near death. Why? These questions need to be answered, now, before any other child gets hurt. NHELD finds the failures of all of these agencies absolutely abhorrent and totally intolerable. We sincerely hope that the apparent and continued passing the blame along to someone else, which seems to be a pattern with these agencies, does not continue. Passing the buck from one entity to another is childish and sickening. All of these agencies need to be held accountable for their abject failures to save the horrendous physical abuse of this child for an astounding twenty years or more. Therefore, NHELD calls for the immediate appointment of a Special Inspector General to investigate all of the involved agencies as to their culpability in allowing this person to be held in captivity and starved for 20 years, and to hold all those responsible criminally and civilly liable for their abject failures to protect this child. In addition, NHELD calls for an immediate federal investigation into the agencies involved for the very same reasons, and to hold all those responsible criminally and civilly under federal law as applicable. Finally, NHELD calls for the immediate halting of all state and federal funding possible going to these agencies until all answers are obtained, persons are held fully accountable, and truly long lasting corrective action is taken within each agency. March 21, 2025.