Ariel Castro kept his three victims tied up and repeatedly raped them over the course of 11 years. He abducted Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry between 2002 and 2004.
One of the victims of self-confessed sexual predator, Ariel Castro, had faced him in court on Thursday to describe the Cleveland house where she, and two others, were repeatedly physically and emotionally abused.
In her victim impact statement, Michelle Knight wept as she read "I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning, You will face hell for eternity."
"From this moment on, I will not let you define me, or affect who I am. I will live on, you will die a little every day."
Members of the jury had been shown pictures of the squalid conditions in which the three girls – Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry – were forced to live in during their decade-long ordeal.
These images included one of a metal pole, which the girls were chained to whenever Ariel Castro raped them.
The court also heard that Castro would often throw money at the girls after abusing them, which they would then have to pay back if they wanted any special items from outside their prison.
Castro would also repeatedly beat and starve the women when they fell pregnant, forcing them to miscarry, and even kept one of the victim’s placenta in the fridge.
Dr Frank Ochberg also took the stand earlier today to explain the long-term impact of the girl’s years in captivity, stating: ‘These women have life sentences, they will never be free of the damage done'.
He added that the three displayed: ‘terror-induced states of mind, defilement, dehumanization and how they were treated like animals and deprived of their sense of self and dignity.’
‘These women have life sentences, they will never be free of the damage done'.
Ariel Castro, who knew one of the victims as she was a friend of his daughters, wrote a confession at his home which was also shown in court.
Chillingly, it read: ‘Bottom line, I am a sexual predator.’
As he addressed the court ahead of his sentencing, Castro went so far to say that he provided a normal family environment for the girls, and that all of the sex between them was consensual.
But later, contradicting himself, he admitted that he has ‘a sexual addiction, just like alcoholics have an addiction.’
"I believe I am addicted to porn to the point that it really makes me impulsive and I just don't realise what I'm doing is wrong," he said.
He continued: "To be a musician and to be a monster like you're trying to say that I am - I don't think I can handle that - I'm a happy person inside."
He insisted he had been "driven by sex", continuing: "I'm not a violent predator… I'm not a monster, I'm a normal person.
Detective Harasimchuk, who had been on the missing person’s case before the girl’s discovery, described how the three were vaginally, orally and anally raped throughout their time in captivity.
All three women were abducted after Castro offered them a ride, and each were chained up in the basement within hours of being captured.
