Life and 1 000 years for Cleveland kidnapper
CLEVELAND: Ariel Castro, the Cleveland bus driver who abducted, imprisoned and tortured three women, has been sentenced to life in prison and 1 000 years with no parole, after one of his victims confronted him, saying he had put her through 11 years of hell.
Castro, 53, was alternately defiant and apologetic while showing no remorse in a rambling final statement to the court. Although he said he was sorry for his actions, he insisted “I am not a monster”.
“If you asked my daughter she would say, ‘My dad is the best dad in the world’,” Castro said.
“All the sex was consensual,” Castro told the judge before sentencing. “The girls were not virgins. They had multiple sex partners before me.”
Cuyahoga County Judge Michael Russo, describing Castro as suffering from “extreme narcissism”, said the crimes were so extreme that the former school bus driver should not emerge from prison. Castro had pleaded guilty to hundreds of charges, including murder, for beating and starving victim Michelle Knight to force her to miscarry during pregnancy. The full sentence was life without parole and 1 000 years, ensuring that Castro would not leave prison.
Knight, 32, made a dramatic appearance in court before the sentencing and read a written statement saying Castro had per- secuted her, beginning with her abduction in 2002 until she was freed on May 6 last year.
“Days turned into nights, nights turned into days. Years turned into eternity. I knew nobody cared about me. He told me that my family didn’t care,” Knight said, choking back tears.
“I spent 11 years of hell. Now your hell is just beginning,” Knight said to Castro.
Wearing leg shackles and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, Castro sparred with the judge over some of the charges and listened impassively to the testimony and sentencing.
Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23 and Knight, disappeared from the west side of Cleveland between 2002 and 2004. They were discovered on May 6 after neighbours heard Berry’s cries for help from Castro’s home.
Berry has a six-year-old daughter fathered by Castro, according to DNA evidence.
The child had a “normal” life, Castro said. Berry “is out partying” after her release, so she must be okay, he said. He described the little girl as his “miracle child”. The only point at which he became emotional was when he spoke about her.
“I heard I can file for parental rights,” Castro told the judge at one point. The judge responded that he would not be allowed any contact with the girl.
Prosecutors presented pictures of the interior of the house showing chains, boarded-up windows, numerous locks and curtains separating rooms.