Ohio kidnappings: Castro gets life plus 1000 years

A MAN who imprisoned three women in his home and subjected them to a decade of rape and beatings has pleaded guilty in order to avoid the death penalty.

Ariel Castro at a previous court appearance. Picture: AP

Ariel Castro, 53, told a judge in Ohio on Friday that he was addicted to pornography, had a “sexual problem” and had been a sexual abuse victim himself.

In exchange, prosecutors recommended Castro be sentenced to life without parole plus a 1,000-year sentence.

Castro said he was “going to get the book thrown at me”. The plea bargain comes more than a month after 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”.

Castro had been scheduled for trial on 5 August on a 977-count indictment, but on Friday he pleaded guilty to 937 counts at the hearing.

The indictment included two counts of aggravated murder related to accusations that he punched and starved one woman until she miscarried.

The former bus driver also was charged with hundreds of counts of kidnapping and rape, plus assault and other counts.

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

The sticking-point on a plea deal had been whether the prosecutor would rule out the death penalty. The Cuyahoga County prosecutor had kept that issue under review.

The three women 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.

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

News that Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight had been found alive electrified the Cleveland area, where two of them were household names after years of searches, publicity and vigils.