Ariel Castro accepts plea that spares his life – and his kidnapping victims

Facing 997 counts, including rape and aggravated murder, Ariel Castro opts for a plea deal for life plus 1,000 years in prison without parole, sparing himself the death penalty and the women he kidnapped from testifying.

|
Tony Dejak/AP
Ariel Castro, left, talks with defense attorney Jaye Schlachet during court proceedings Friday, July 26, in Cleveland. On Friday, he agreed to plead guilty to kidnapping and raping three Cleveland women, a move that spares him the death penalty.

The man accused of kidnapping three Cleveland women and keeping them captive in his house for a decade pleaded guilty Friday in a deal to avoid the death penalty.

As a result, Ariel Castro will be sentenced to life without parole plus 1,000 years, prosecutors said. The plea deal recommends that Mr. Castro never receive a parole hearing.

Mr. Castro is accused of kidnapping and hiding Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight in his house for a decade under brutal conditions, including repeatedly binding the women with chains or rope and forcing starvation, beatings, and sexual assault.

Castro had been charged with 977 counts, including kidnapping and rape, and two counts of aggravated murder for allegedly impregnating one of the women and then causing her to miscarry.

By negotiating a plea deal, prosecutors ensured that the women will not have to testify against Castro in court, something their lawyers said they wished to avoid. 

Last month a statement issued on behalf of the women said they were "hopeful for a just and prompt resolution" and had "great faith in the prosecutor's office and the court."

If Castro had not accepted the plea deal, his trial would have started Aug. 5. Prosecutors had said that they were considering seeking the death penalty under a fetal homicide law for the alleged miscarriage, Reuters reported. 

The original indictment charged Castro with 512 counts of kidnapping, 446 counts of rape, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, six counts of felonious assault, three counts of child endangerment, and one count of possessing criminal tools.

DNA tests revealed that Castro fathered a child, now six years old, with Ms. Berry during her captivity. The child also escaped with the women in May.

The three women disappeared between 2002 and 2004 when they were 21, 16, and 14 years old. Each woman has said she accepted a ride from Castro, according to the Associated Press

Castro, a former school bus driver, has been jailed since his arrest on May 6, shortly after the women escaped from the house.

In early July, the three women released a thank you video to supporters in which they spoke of their appreciation for the outpouring of support and their desire to move ahead with new lives. 

“I want everyone to know how happy I am to be home with my family and friends," Berry said. “I’m getting stronger each day and having my privacy has helped immensely. I ask that everyone continue to respect our privacy and give us time to have a normal life.”

“I want everyone to know I’m doing just fine,” said Ms. Knight. “I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation. I don’t want to be consumed by hatred.”

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Ariel Castro accepts plea that spares his life – and his kidnapping victims
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2013/0726/Ariel-Castro-accepts-plea-that-spares-his-life-and-his-kidnapping-victims
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe