Judge sentences Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro to life, plus 1,000 years
Cleveland (CNN) -- When her chance came, kidnapping victim Michelle Knight lit into Ariel Castro, the man who held her captive and raped her in his Cleveland home for a decade.
"You took 11 years of my life away," she said. "I spent 11 years in hell. Now, your hell is just beginning. I will overcome all this that happened, but you will face hell for eternity."
In handing down a sentence of life without parole plus 1,000 years in prison, Judge Michael Russo told the kidnapper there was no place in the world for his brand of criminal.
Castro pleaded guilty last week to 937 counts, including murder and kidnapping, in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table. The charges stem from his kidnapping, rape and assault of three women: Knight, abducted in 2002; Georgina DeJesus, abducted in 2004; and Amanda Berry; abducted in 2003.
Castro is the father of Berry's 6-year-old girl, DNA tests confirmed.
Berry and DeJesus, who did not attend the hearing, sent family members to deliver impact statements on their behalves, while Knight, 32, chose to address her abductor head-on.
In a pre-sentencing evaluation, Dr. Frank Ochberg, a pioneer in trauma science, wrote that Knight suffered "the longest and most severely."
"It was Michelle who served as doctor, nurse, midwife and pediatrician during the birth (of Berry's child). She breathed life into that infant when she wasn't breathing," he wrote. "At other times, she interceded when Castro sought to abuse Gina, interposing herself and absorbing physical and sexual trauma. But each survivor had a will to prevail and used that will to live through the ordeal."
Despite his repeated insistence that he wasn't making excuses for his conduct, Castro played the victim, saying he was addicted to porn and masturbation. In his oft-disjointed statement, he referred to himself as "very emotional" and "a happy person inside."
"I'm not a monster. I'm just sick. I have an addiction, just like an alcoholic has an addiction," he said. "God as my witness, I never beat these women like they're trying to say that I did. I never tortured them."
Testimony from authorities and mental health experts didn't jibe with Castro's recollection, however. Police recalled how the women were forced to play Russian roulette and how Castro would throw money at them after raping them.
Det. David Jacobs of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office testified he'd also show a gun "to the girls as a form of control."
It was all to "purely satisfy his sexual needs," Jacobs said. " 'I knew what I did was wrong.' He said that more than once."
Castro's 1,400-square-foot home was reconfigured to keep their whereabouts a secret, FBI agent Andrew Burke testified. The back door was outfitted with an alarm, bedspreads and curtains obscured parts of them home and a porch swing was placed in front of the stairs leading to the rooms where Castro held the women and girl hostage.
Police also testified Castro would chain the women to objects, including a support pole in his basement.
In the room where Berry and her daughter were held, the doorknob was removed, a lock was affixed to the outside and a hole was cut through the door for ventilation because the windows had been boarded up from the inside, Burke said.
Burke also described a handwritten letter in which Castro claimed he had been sexually abused as a child and wrote, "I am a sexual predator."
The first police officer on the scene, Barbara Johnson, recalled for the court how she and another officer heard the pitter-patter of footsteps in a dark room where Knight and DeJesus were held.
When the captive women realized they were police, Knight "literally launched herself" onto an officer, "legs, arms, just choking him. She just kept repeating, 'You saved us! You saved us!' " Johnson said.
The women were described as scared, pale, malnourished and dehydrated when they were rescued. Dr. Gerald Maloney, who was in the emergency room when the victims arrived, said Knight requested that no male physicians attend to her.
Several witnesses said the women told them stories of being physically abused and deprived of food, and Det. Andrew Harasimchuk told the judge the women were raped "vaginally, orally and anally" during their captivity.
Multiple officers testified that Castro appeared to show no remorse for his crimes, and prosecutor Anna Faraglia said he "tormented" his victims by allowing them to watch vigils held in their honor, and he even attended some.
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