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| A close-up of a model of the house on Seymour Ave. where Ariel Castro held three women is displayed in court Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, in Cleveland. Castro, a onetime school bus driver faces sentencing for kidnapping three women and subjecting them to years of sexual and physical abuse. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak) Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak) |
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Ohio man convicted of holding three women captive in his Cleveland house over a decade and raping them repeatedly was sentenced Thursday to life in prison plus 1,000 years.
Ariel Castro, 53, apologized to his victims in a rambling, defiant statement before he was sentenced. He blamed his sex addiction and others while claiming most of the sex was consensual and that 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."
Just before the sentencing, one of three women he kidnapped stood just feet away from Castro and confronted him, telling him his life was over.
"You took 11 years of my life away and I have got it back," said Michelle Knight. "I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."