It’s the case the entire nation is talking about – a Waterbury man who set fire to his own home to escape 20 years of alleged captivity.

Now, Gov. Ned Lamont and top state lawmakers are calling for an investigation into how child welfare authorities missed the abuse for decades.

Waterbury police say Kimberly Sullivan, 56, turned her home into a virtual prison for her stepson. When firefighters found him, the 32 year-old man weighed only 68 pounds and had not showered in a year.

“This is the worst treatment of humanity that I’ve ever witnessed,” Chief Fernando Spagnolo said. “It was worse than the conditions of a jail cell.”

Sullivan now faces assault, kidnapping and child endangerment charges.

“Ms. Sullivan has strongly denied all of these allegations,” said her attorney, Jason Spilka. “She is the stepmother, so his [now deceased] father did dictate everything as to the upbringing and everything else.”

Sullivan is out of jail on $300,000 bond. Her next court date is March 26.

Authorities’ last contact with the family was in 2005, when police visited the home after a referral from the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.

“The officers went to the house. The house was clean, it was lived-in,” Chief Fernando Spagnolo said. “They spoke to the victim at that moment in time and there was no cause for any alarm.”

Now, the top Republican on the Legislature’s Committee on Children wants DCF leaders to answer questions before lawmakers.

“Their responsibility is to make sure that this gets addressed,” said state Sen. Jason Perillo (R-Shelton). “If folks still work there, we need to hear from them. If there are people who worked there and don't now, we need to hear from them too.”

DCF said it has no record of complaints against the Sullivan family, even though a former elementary school principal told NBC Connecticut that he called the agency 20 times after seeing the child eating out of the garbage.

“We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done,” said Tom Pannone, principal at the now-closed Barnard Elementary School. “Everyone really was concerned with this child since he was 5 years old. You knew something was wrong. It was grossly wrong.”

DCF said that unsubstantiated complaints are erased after five years.

Police also want to talk to the alleged victim's half-sisters. News 12 Connecticut reached out to relatives and got no response.

“We’re attempting to talk to everybody in this case,” Spagnolo said.

Victim advocates say there have long been communication issues between them, police and DCF officials – partly due to confidentiality laws.

“I do think there are some issues, some deep-rooted issues there,” said Amanda Nardozzi, executive director of Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury. “I think we’re all ‘siloed,’ and we need to work really hard at breaking down some of those silos.”

Lamont pledged a full investigation on Friday.

“It’s shocking. We’re going to get to the bottom of this. The tragedy is extraordinary, how this went on for so long,” he told reporters. “DCF was contacted. They made a visit; they notified police. Police returned and visited and still, neighbors never reported anything and it's 20 years later. It’s sad. We’re going to make sure this never happens again.”

Safe Haven and the Waterbury mayor’s office are raising money for the victim.

"He's going to need long-term occupational, rehabilitation health, medical care, dental care, educational support,” said Nardozzi. “He was taken out of school in fourth grade."

Click HERE to donate to the GoFundMe campaign.