US man pleads guilty in kidnap, rape case

Ariel Castro, center, listens to the judge during court proceedings Friday, July 26, 2013, in Cleveland. Defense attorney’s Craig Weintraub, left, and Jaye Schlachet also listen. Castro, who imprisoned three women in his home, subjecting them to a decade of rapes and beatings, pleaded guilty Friday to 937 counts in a deal to avoid the death penalty. In exchange, prosecutors recommended Castro be sentenced to life without parole plus 1,000 years. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

CLEVELAND—A man accused of imprisoning three women in his home and subjecting them to rapes and beatings for a decade avoided the death penalty, pleading guilty in a deal that will keep him in prison for life.

The women’s escape from Ariel Castro’s Cleveland home two months ago at first brought joy to the Ohio city, where they had become household names after years of searches, publicity and vigils. Then there was despair at revelations of their treatment.

“The captor is now the captive,” prosecutor Tim McGinty said Friday.

The rescue of the women brought shocking allegations that Castro fathered a child with one of the women, induced five miscarriages in another by starving and punching her, and assaulted one with a vacuum cord around her neck when she tried to escape.

Castro told the judge he was addicted to pornography, had a “sexual problem” and had been a sexual abuse victim himself long ago.

He pleaded guilty to 937 counts in the deal, which sends him to prison for life without parole, plus 1,000 years. Prosecutors agreed to take a possible death penalty charge off the table.

Castro, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and a bushy beard, was far more engaged than in previous court appearances when he mostly kept his head down and eyes closed. He answered the judge’s questions in a clear voice, saying he understood that he would never be released from prison and adding that he expected he was “going to get the book thrown at me.”

“I knew that when I first spoke to the FBI agent, when I first got arrested,” he said.

Castro, who was born in Puerto Rico, said he could read and understand English well but had trouble with comprehension.

“My addiction to pornography and my sexual problem has really taken a toll on my mind.”

At the end of the 2 1/2-hour hearing, the judge accepted the plea and declared Castro guilty. Sentencing was set for Thursday.

The women said in a statement they were relieved by the conviction.

“They are satisfied by this resolution to the case, and are looking forward to having these legal proceedings draw to a final close in the near future,” said the statement released on their behalf.

Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. Each said they had accepted a ride from Castro, who remained friends with the family of one of the women and even attended vigils over the years marking her disappearance.

He was accused of repeatedly raping, beating and restraining the women, sometimes chaining them to a pole in a basement, to a bedroom heater or inside a van.

Castro fathered a 6-year-old daughter with Berry, now 27, authorities said. On the day the child was born, Christmas 2006, Castro raped one of the other women, who had helped deliver the baby.

Prosecutors will recommend at the sentencing hearing that Castro have no contact with the girl he fathered. McGinty said there’s “zero chance” he’ll ever be allowed to see the girl.

Berry told authorities that she, her child and the other women never saw a doctor during their captivity. Knight, now 32, said her five pregnancies ended after Castro starved and repeatedly punched her.

The women escaped Castro’s house May 6 when one of them kicked out part of a door and called to neighbors for help. Castro was arrested within hours and has remained behind bars.

McGinty said the county will use more than $20,000 seized from Castro to tear down his house within a month, and two abandoned houses next door will be razed and a vacant lot acquired for a park.

Castro’s uncle, Julio Castro, who has run a nearby corner store for 44 years, said the ordeal will be with the family the rest of their lives.

“He’s getting what he deserves,” Castro, 77, said.