1,000 years in prison
US kidnapper raped, beat and abused three women
relieved by today’s plea,’ said a statement released by a law firm on their behalf. ‘They are satisfied by this resolution to the case.’
Castro’s neighbours said he occasionally was seen taking the little girl to a nearby playground, but the women never left the house except to the yard on one or two occasions.
His fortress-like home had boarded up windows, multiple locks, and a
‘They are relieved he’ll never get out’
basement with chains and dog leashes. Castro’s family was warned never to go past the kitchen of the house.
Castro, who was born in Puerto Rico, was a bus driver for the Cleveland school district in Ohio for years, driving children as young as preschool to various schools in the city, until he was fired in 2012 after a fourth disciplinary incident.
He had other brushes with the law over the years but never serious enough for police to arrest him.
Following the rescue of the three woman, police initially arrested Castro’s two brothers, Onil and Pedro, on suspicion of aiding in his Castro’s crimes.
But they were quickly released and said they had no knowledge of his double life.
Castro’s formal sentencing proceeding has been scheduled for Thursday.
Castro also had been charged with murder under an Ohio foetal homicide law. Prosecutors accused him of beating and starving Ms Knight while she was pregnant so she would have a miscarriage.
Prosecutors could have sought the death penalty for the murder charge but the plea agreement precluded that sentence. ARIEL Castro, the US school bus driver who kidnapped three women and held them captive for a decade, yesterday avoided the death penalty and was told he will be jailed for 1,000 years instead.
Castro, 53, pleaded guilty to 937 counts of the 977 charges against him, including kidnapping the three women and a young girl, and serial rape of the women.
He accepted a plea deal offered by prosecutors in Ohio so he could avoid the death penalty. Under the agreement 40 counts were dropped.
Next week he is to be sentenced to life without parole and 1,000 years on top.
His crime came to light when one of his victims, Amanda Berry, 27, escaped in May after a decade in captivity in Cleveland and raised the alarm.
In court yesterday Castro told Judge Michael Russo he understood he would never emerge from prison.
‘I do understand that. I knew I was pretty much going to get the book thrown
‘I knew I’d get the book thrown at me’
at me,’ Castro said. He later added: ‘I knew that when I first spoke to the FBI agent when I first got arrested.’
The plea deal means Castro will not stand trial, sparing the women the trauma of testifying about their abuse at his hands.
Ms Berry and two other women vanished without trace between 2002 and 2004 in the same neighbourhood where Cas- tro lived. They were rescued in May – 11 years after the first of them disappeared.
The details of Castro’s crimes and what his captives went through shocked the US and beyond.
They had been bound with chains or ropes and endured starvation, beatings and sexual assaults, according to court documents and a police report.
On May 6, neighbours heard cries for help from Ms Berry and helped her in breaking open a door to Castro’s house where they also found Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, upstairs. Ms Knight leapt into the arms of a policeman when she saw him.
Berry’s six-year-old daughter – who was fathered by Castro while he held the women captive – was also rescued.
A police report said Ms Berry had given birth to the girl in a plastic swimming pool on Christmas Day with Ms Knight’s help.
At court yesterday, Castro spoke for the first time in detail about his actions, admitting he had been a victim himself as a child and had struggled with a sexual obsession.
‘My addiction to pornography and my sexual problem has really taken a toll on my mind,’ Castro said. ‘I was also a victim as a child and it just kept going,’ he claimed.
None of Castro’s family or his vic- tims attended yesterday’s two-anda-half-hour hearing.
Afterwards, in a statement the women said they were relieved Castro will be behind bars for the rest of his life and they said they wanted to maintain their privacy.
‘Amanda, Gina, and Michelle are