Life in jail for man who held 3 Ohio women captive
CLEVELAND—A former Cleveland school bus driver who held three women captive for years pleaded guilty on Friday to hundreds of charges of kidnapping and rape, allowing him to avoid the death penalty and instead serve life in prison without parole.
At a court hearing, Ohio prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against Ariel Castro. Under the agreement, he will not stand trial, sparing the women the trauma of testifying about their abuse by Castro over about a decade.
The women vanished without a trace between 2002 and 2004 in the same neighborhood where Castro lived, and were rescued on May 6, 11 years after the first of them disappeared.
Many Americans were alternately elated by their rescue and stunned by the details of his brutal treatment of the women, in one of the most sensational recent US criminal cases. The women were bound in chains or ropes for periods of time and endured starvation, beatings and sexual assaults, according to court documents and a police report.
On May 6, neighbors heard cries for help from Amanda Berry, 27, and helped her break open a door to Castro’s house, where they also found Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, upstairs. Knight leapt into the arms of a policeman when she saw him.
Also rescued was Berry’s 6year-old daughter, who was fathered by Castro while he held the women captive, DNA evidence later confirmed. A police report said Berry had given birth to the girl in a plastic swimming pool on Christmas Day with Knight’s help.
At Friday’s hearing, Castro, clad in an orange prison jumpsuit, wearing glasses and with a heavy beard, spoke for the first time in detail about his actions. He said 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, 53, told the judge in a clear voice.
“I was also a victim as a child and it just kept going.” Castro did not say he was sorry or express regret for his actions during the hearing. None of Castro’s family or the victims attended the hearing.
“He is a fraud and a coward,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty told reporters after the hearing. “Do not be fooled. He is a manipulator and has no remorse.” McGinty said the house where the women were confined would be torn down using money seized from Castro by authorities.