(Updated Friday 1:16 p.m.) A Seymour man was charged Thursday night with locking his 56-year-old sister in a bedroom in a home the two lived in and “holding her captive over a period of several years,” police said in a prepared statement.
Police say that they found the woman to be living in “astounding” squalor, and that she was malnourished.
The woman was hospitalized for evaluation and treatment.
The woman’s brother, Arthur Gauvin, 58, of 10 Eleanor Road, was charged with cruelty to persons, unlawful restraint, and reckless endangerment. He posted a $20,000 bond in the case, but police arrested him a second time Thursday after he “made a threatening comment to a family member in front of officers.” He was charged with witness tampering.
Gauvin was arraigned Friday morning in state Superior Court in Derby. Judge Karen Sequino set bond at $125,000 after prosecutors added charges of first-degree assault on a disabled person and second-degree kidnapping.
The judge ordered him to stay away from the house and his sister if he posts bond.
“First of all,” Gauvin responded, “the house is in my ownership.”
“It’s in your ownership, but it’s no longer in your possession,” the judge responded. “The court has the power to order you out of your residence, and I’ve just done that.” The case was continued to May 13 in state court in Milford.
Seymour Deputy Police Chief Paul Satkowski said in a statement released Friday that the incident unfolded shortly before 7:30 p.m. Thursday when police received an anonymous call from someone saying they were concerned for the welfare of Gauvin’s sister.
They went to the home and started speaking to Gauvin, Satkowski said, and “immediately detected a foul odor inside of the residence.”
“Officers were led to a bedroom in the house where the female victim was located,” Satkowski said. “Upon locating the victim investigating officers were astounded by the living conditions that the female victim was living in. Officers found the female victim to be covered in filth with urine and human feces covering her entire body.
“The victim was disheveled and it was immediately apparent she had not been bathed in a long period of time,” Satkowski said. “She was frail, extremely thin and appeared to be malnourished. Officers found a locking clasp on the outside of the bedroom door that prevented the female from exiting her bedroom.”
Police found shocking living conditions inside the bedroom. Satkowski said the room was “kept like a dungeon.”
“Urine and human feces was spread throughout the entire bedroom including the bed in which she slept,” Satkowski said. “The one window inside the room was blacked out with black paint to prevent the female victim from seeing the outside. The window was also boarded up to prevent the victim from escaping.”
The smell throughout the house was so bad police had to leave after only a few minutes. Police had a detective put on a special hazmat suit and self-contained breathing apparatus.
Satkowski’s statement said minor children also live at the residence, and the Department of Children and Families was called Thursday to conduct an investigation, as well.
Satkowski said Gauvin was motivated to keep his sister locked up so he would not “lose the house to the State of Connecticut.”
“Apparently the female victim signed the house over to Gauvin approximately seven years ago,” Satkowski said. “Gauvin then was responsible for taking care of the victim for nine years before she could receive any services from the State of Connecticut.”
