Ariel Castro apologizes to his victims during sentencing hearing. Rough cut. (No reporter narration)
ARIEL Castro, the man convicted of imprisoning three women in his Cleveland home for a decade while he repeatedly beat and raped them, has been sentenced to life in prison plus more than 1000 years after insisting in court he "is not a monster".
Castro's pleas that he was not a violent man fell on deaf ears, as Judge Michael Russo accepted a plea deal that saw him convicted on 977 criminal counts.
In a rambling quasi-apology to his three victims, one of whom sat sat stonily in the courtroom, Castro claimed he had acted on impulse as a result of sexual addiction and addiction to pornography. Castro told the court he didn't even plan the first kidnapping, and claimed that most of the sex was consensual and the women were never tortured.
"These people are trying to paint me as a monster," he said. "I'm not a monster. I'm sick."
Victim Michelle Knight, who was snatched off the street in 2002 at the age of 20, faced down Castro in court, saying death would have been "so much easier'' for her tormenter.
"I spent 11 years in hell, and now your hell is just beginning,'' Knight said, adding that she had cried every night and that her years in captivity and "turned into eternity."
Ariel Castro, centre, listens in the courtroom during the sentencing phase in Cleveland. Defence attorney's Craig Weintraub, left, and Jaye Schlachet sit beside Castro. Picture: AP
Ms Knight's appearance was the first time she's been seen publicly since her rescue from the house where she was held captive for over a decade. The 32-year-old Ms Knight was the first woman abducted by Ariel Castro in 2002, after he lured her into his house with the promise of a puppy for her son.
Despite having pleaded guilty to 977 charges related to his victims' brutal decade-long ordeal, including many rapes and the murder of a foetus through beating its mother, Castro said he was not a violent man.
Castro claimed that he had himself been sexually abused as a child and had grown up obsessed with sex, addicted to pornography and a compulsive masturbator.
He said he had not plotted the three kidnaps, but had acted on impulse.
"I am not a monster. I am a normal person. I am just sick. I have an addiction just like an alcoholic has an addiction,'' he said. "Alcoholics cannot control their addiction. That's what I can't control my addiction, your Honour. Most of the sex that went on in that house, practically all of it was consensual.
Michelle Knight sits in the courtroom ahead of her testimony at Ariel Castro's sentencing hearing in Cleveland. It was her first public appearance since her rescue after a decade of captivity and relentless abuse. Picture: AP
"These allegations about being forceful on them, that is totally wrong,'' he said.
Judge Michael Russo gave Castro the life term for the most serious count and was outlining additional time for the hundreds of other counts, but he didn't immediately reveal the exact amount of the symbolic additional prison time.
Judge Russo dismissed Castro's claims that the women lived a happy life with him.
"I'm not sure there's anyone in America that would agree with you," he said, pointing out to Castro that he had admitted to violent crimes.
Russo had no interest in his excuses and sentenced Castro to 1000 years in prison by imposing consecutive sentences on hundreds of charges.
Michelle Knight speaks during the sentencing for Ariel Castro in Cleveland. Picture: AP
"A person can only die in prison once,'' Judge Russo said in passing the sentence, dismissing the idea that Castro was not a violent man.
``You pled guilty to that and by virtue of your plea, when you rape someone, that's what it means,'' he said.
"Sir, there's no place in this city, there is no place in this country and indeed there is no place in this world for those who enslave others, those who sexually assault others and those who brutalise others.''
Castro, 53, had pleaded guilty after prosecutors agreed to take the death penalty off the table in a deal that will see him spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.
In court, Castro said that he still couldn't understand why he held the three women captive, but insisted "there was harmony in that home.''
"I am not a monster. I was sick,'' Castro said, insisting he was addicted to sex and pornography.
Chains found in an upstairs bedroom at Castro's house are shown in court. Picture: AP
He also insisted the women were lying when they said he beat them, declaring "I am not a violent person.''
"Most of the sex that went on in the house, probably all of it, was consensual,'' Castro claimed. "There was times they would even ask me for sex, many times. These girls were not virgins.''
More than 42 kilograms of chains were found in the filthy, darkened home where the women were kept in locked rooms with boarded up windows.
Even more horrifying were the stories the thin, pale and bruised women told upon their release.
"The damage that was done was a life sentence,'' psychiatrist Frank Ochberg testified.
Amanda Berry, left, and Gina DeJesus were found alive after disappearing in the US city of Cleveland about a decade ago. Picture: AFP
The case came to light after Amanda Berry, 27, managed to escape with her six-year-old daughter by calling out to neighbour Charles Ramsey for help through a locked front door on May 6.
Lured into the car of Castro, a man they knew as the father of a friend or classmate at the ages of 20, 16, and 14, the women suffered violent beatings and repeated rapes for a decade.
They were fed just once a day and rarely given access to the bathroom, instead having to relieve themselves in plastic buckets that were "emptied infrequently,'' prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.
Ms Knight was impregnated four times during her 11 years of captivity. Castro terminated her pregnancies by starving her for days, feeding her rotten food and then kicking and jumping on her stomach, testified Detective Andy Harasimchuk, who interviewed Ms Knight upon her release.
Ms Berry was allowed to carry a pregnancy to term, giving birth in a plastic kiddie pool on Christmas Day, 2006.
A wig used by one of the victims on the rare occasion they were taken outside.
Castro would sometimes toss money at his victims after they were raped, which they could then give back to him if they wanted something special from the store, FBI Special Agent Andrew Burke testified.
Cleveland police officer Barb Johnson testified about the shock and sheer joy the women expressed when they were finally freed.
Ms Johnson used the flashlight on her gun to search the darkened house with a fellow officer shortly after Ms Berry was able to escape.
They repeatedly called out "Cleveland police'' and heard a "pitter-patter'' of feet, which stopped.
Ms Johnson shined the light on herself so the approaching woman could see they really were police officers, at which point Knight "literally launched herself'' into another officer's arms.
The walls are covered in pictures by Amanda Berry and her daughter.
"Legs, arms, just choking him,'' Ms Johnson said. "And she just kept repeating: 'You saved us, you saved us.'''
Gina DeJesus, who was just 14 when she was abducted, was initially too afraid to leave her room, Ms Johnson added.
Prosecutors said they relied on diaries kept by the women during their lengthy captivity for many of the 977 criminal charges lodged against Castro.
Ms Berry initially addressed her entries to her mother, according to a report by a psychiatrist who evaluated the women. After learning of her mother's death, she wrote to soothe her mother's spirit in heaven.
The entries spoke of rape, vicious beatings, of being chained to a wall and locked in a dark room, of "being treated like an animal,'' of "anticipating the next session of abuse,'' and of "his threats to kill,'' prosecutors said.
This is the basement where the three women were chained to a pole.
The women also wrote of "dreams of some day escaping and being reunited with family,'' of "missing the lives they once enjoyed'' and of their overwhelming desire for freedom.
DNA tests showed that Castro fathered Ms Berry's child. He has asked Judge Michael Russo to allow him to see her, a request the judge deemed "inappropriate.''
Police do not understand why none of the people who visited the unassuming house at 2207 Seymour - including Castro's family and girlfriend - realised what was going on there.
His victims have begged the media and public to respect their privacy and give them time to heal. In a statement last week they said they were "relieved'' by Castro's plea deal and "satisfied by this resolution to the case.''
The 53-year-old Castro pleaded guilty last week to 937 counts including two charges of aggravated murder related to one act of forcing one of his victims to miscarry.
This is the room where Amanda Berry and her daughter with Castro, who she gave birth in captivity, lived.
During last week's hearing Castro said he was a victim of child sex abuse himself and said he had a sex addiction.
Prosecutor Tim McGinty said in a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday that Castro, who chained his captives and fed them only one meal a day, "admits his disgusting and inhuman conduct" but "remains remorseless for his actions".
The memorandum says many of the specific charges in Castro's indictment reflect conduct documented by one of the women in her diary.
"The entries speak of forced sexual conduct, of being locked in a dark room, of anticipating the next session of abuse, of the dreams of someday escaping and being reunited with family, of being chained to a wall, of being held like a prisoner of war ... of being treated like an animal," it says.
In the court filing, Mr McGinty offered new details of Castro's treatment of the women, who he said were kept "in a state of powerlessness" through physical, sexual and psychological violence.
The alarm on the door was a stark reminder to the women.
"He made them believe that their physical survival depended on him, and he threatened to end their lives if they did not comply with his every demand," Mr McGinty said.
Castro menaced the women with a gun, threatened them with tales of other captives, some of whom hadn't made it home, and at one point locked all of them in a vehicle in his garage for three days while he had a visitor.
Castro claimed he didn't have an exit strategy from his complicated double life and finally gave the women a chance to escape by leaving a door unlocked, the court filing said.
Other horrific details of the women's ordeal had already emerged, including tales of being chained to poles in the basement or a bedroom heater or inside a van, with one woman forced to wear a motorcycle helmet while chained in the basement and, after she tried to escape, having a vacuum cord wrapped around her neck.
Ms Berry, 27, made a surprise onstage appearance at a rap concert last weekend, and a second victim, Gina DeJesus, 23, made a few televised comments as a privacy fence was being erected around her house. The third victim, Michelle Knight, 32, appeared with Ms Berry and Ms DeJesus in a video in early July thanking the community for its support.
Sheriff's deputies set in place a model of the house on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland where Ariel Castro held three women.
At an earlier court hearing, Castro said he greatly missed his daughter, but the judge rejected a request to see her.
With AP
Law enforcement officials gather evidence at the Castro's home, where the three women were held captive in Cleveland for a decade. Picture: AP
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