Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Live Coverage of Ariel Castro's Sentencing Hearing; Ariel Castro Speaks

Aired August 01, 2013 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TIM MCGINTY, CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO, PROSECUTOR: We appreciate whatever sentence you deem appropriate.

He took advantage of young and vulnerable children with a planned, prior calculated criminal acts (INAUDIBLE) disaster to this community (INAUDIBLE) the ultimate disaster with the four individual victims and their families.

The anguish they experienced is almost indescribable.

In these short few hours here of trying to help (INAUDIBLE) help this court wrap and get a feel of the extraordinary deprivation these victims incurred.

One victim, Michelle, the morning she wakes up in the hospital looks out the window for her first day, the first time she gets to see the sunrise, it was a cloudy day, but it was beautiful to her.

That was her first opportunity in over a decade to see what the outside looked like, to see what the rain looked like.

To see what this man did as a master manipulator, then and now, and it continues.

We've heard this claim, this sudden claim that he suffered from mental illness. The -- there is absolutely no backing to that claim. He had no psychiatric disorder. It's noted in Dr. (INAUDIBLE) -- there is no psychiatric diagnosis. He has no psychiatric excuses. He is responsible.

Does a man like he or Gacy or Bundy have a problem? They sure do. And is he a sexual predator? He sure is. And do sexual predators -- should they seek help? They sure should. They shouldn't even engage in such an activity.

He has no excuse. He has run a series of attempts to blame others and, in fact, he takes no responsibility. When questioned, he blames others. He blames the children and the victims and now women who entered his car for getting into his car.

He constantly berated them for listening to him, for not doing what they were told, not doing what they were taught in school. They -- he takes no responsibility. He has no sincere remorse.

The only reason he pled to this crime and agreed to this sentence was to avoid the death penalty sentence for himself, for no one else.

They -- we thought we heard the evidence of the methodical torture and issues that he caused and the harm he has caused the victim. I will not elaborate on it. It was the victims themselves and the doctors and the other witnesses that have demonstrated that.

But his attitude is what I want to comment on. Before we hear from him again, the -- he said that if he had to do it, he would do it all over again. He doesn't believe he did anything wrong. The -- that is what the ultimate issue is and calls for punishment.

There is no remorse and that is a factor as the court well knows in evaluation.

We thank and admire the victims and their courage for how they survived, how they worked together, as we heard -- "teammates" is the word we heard today -- to survive the ordeal, to live through this, to live to testify, to live to the point, survive, to go back to their families and those that were left.

Amanda, of course, her own mother has died in the meantime and she sadly wrote to her in her diary on a regular basis, to her mother. Then she had to write to her deceased mother. She had to sit there and tell her loving mother what she would have told her.

She then had to learn of her own mother's funeral and then has to learn that this man, the guy who goes to church on Sunday comes home and beats and rapes them, that this man had the audacity to go to their vigil and then they can see it on TV, allows them to see it on TV, their vigil.

Then he has the audacity to go to Gina's mother when he sees it online or on Facebook to go get a poster to post of the daughter he has, that he knows that her mother is looking for, begging for, praying for and he has in his own home and he's torturing her.

This man deserves as many years and as much punishment as this court can possibly give him.

We thank the courage of the victims. They have inspired us all. They have inspired law enforcement. They have inspired the prosecutors. And they have inspired their families. And they have inspired those victims in the future.

Thank you, your honor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your honor, before proceeding, I would offer the binder of our marked exhibits that are in support of the plea agreement and I'll note that state's 18, the firearm, will be retained by the State of Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Continuing objection to the introduction of the inappropriate material, your honor.

JUDGE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Judge, specifically, we object to state's exhibit 17, which is the actual full interrogation of Mr. Castro by the police officer. It is my understanding that the one thing that was being introduced at this hearing was going to be the synopsis that was presented by, I believe it was, Detective David Jacobs.

JUDGE: We met the other day about this, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. And not the actual video itself.

MCGINTY: That's not my understanding. I reached no agreement with anyone on that subject.

JUDGE: Do you have the synopsis in here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we have (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's not in there, it should be.

JUDGE: Well, if you can provide the synopsis which you have read and is a less volatile version of events, that will be accepted by the court. I will return the DVD to you of the actual interview.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exhibit 11, your honor, is a three-page written statement of Mr. Castro; that represents a synopsis of the results of the second interview.

MCGINTY: Your honor, the statement of Mr. Castro is in no way a synopsis of the more than a dozen hours of interrogation of Mr. Castro. That's Mr. Castro's -- I make you feel sorry for me statement.

JUDGE: Mr. McGinty, you seem to be operating under the impression that I don't know what this case is about.

MCGINTY: I want the future reader of this record to know what it's about, Judge. Twenty years from now, this guy is setting up his appeals right now. Promise not to appeal, he'll appeal the minute he walks out the door.

JUDGE: I don't see the DVD in here. If you have it, keep it. If it is in here, you will have to take it out at the end because the DVD won't be going and you can substitute that ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please leave it on the witness stand and I will retrieve it.

JUDGE: Thank you. All right, Mr. (INAUDIBLE) and Mr. (INAUDIBLE), we have now heard additional information. The state's done.

Anything that you wish to say on behalf of your client with respect to the issue of sentencing, mitigation, anything else?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Judge, I believe that Mr. Castro is prepared to make a statement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is, your honor.

JUDGE: I just want to see if either of you had anything else to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, thank you.

JUDGE: All right, so, Mr. Castro, earlier we spoke and you were aware you had a right to make a statement, either with respect to sentencing or by way of mitigation of punishment, so what would you like to say?

ARIEL CASTRO, ADMITTED CAPTOR: First of all, I'm very emotional person so I'm going to try to get it out.

I stated before that I was a victim of sex acts when I was a child. This led me to view pornography my whole life and eventually after I held jobs because I always worked, and people trying to paint me as a monster, and I am not a monster. I was sick.

My sexual problems were so bad in my mind that I am repulsive, but eventually I married and had four children, went on with life and I still practiced the art of touching myself.

And I believe I am addicted to porn to the point that it makes me impulsive and I just don't realize what I am doing is wrong and I know it is not an excuse. I am not trying to make excuses here. I know. I am not contesting it.

I have been a position, to be a monster like they say I am, I don't think I can handle it. I drove a school bus for 21 years. I did a very good job.

Towards the end I started slacking off, trying to get fired because I know it was just too much. This job is too stressful and coming home to my situation and I just -- I never had a record until I left my children's mother.

My son was on here the other day saying how abusive I was. He failed to say that at the end before she passed away that them two weren't even talking

What I am trying to say is she is saying that I was wife beater, that is wrong. This happened because I couldn't get her to quiet down. The children are right there. Please. She responded I don't care. I don't care if the children are there. She would keep going and the situation would escalate and until the point where she would put her hands on me and that's how I react, by putting my hands on her. I know that's wrong.

After 12 years we were separated and then I was single for about five years, and that time I continued to practice the art of masturbation and pornography and got so bad that like maybe two or three hours a day non-stop. When I would finish, I would collapse.

I pick up the first victim, I wasn't -- I didn't even plan it. It wasn't something that trying to make look like I did. I went to family dollar and I heard her over saying something about she needed to get somewhere, and I reacted on that.

When I got up that day, I did not say, oh, I am going to get up and try to find some women because it just wasn't my character. I know it is wrong, and I know I am not trying to make excuses her. I know I am 100 percent wrong.

I am saying that they're trying to say that I am violent person. I am not a violent person. I drove a school bus. I had a family. I do have value for human life.

Every time I came home, I was so -- the situation, as crazy as it may sound, and my daughter just made every day for me after she was born. She never saw what was going on and question her and she always say, yes, my dad is the best dad in the world and how I try to raise her and sisters so she won't be traumatized or anything like that.

She had a normal life for six years. I tried to take her out into public to give her a normal life and, look, this is how it works and I will take her to church and I will come home and just be normal like a normal family.

These accusations that I would come home and beat her, beat them, those are totally wronging, your honor, because like I stated before, I am not a violent person. I know what I did is wrong, but I am not a violent person. I simply kept them there without allowing them to leave.

I know when I picked up the second victim, which was Gina, I don't understand how because I (INAUDIBLE) pick her up because I was driven by sex. And, no, I did not know who she was. I saw her walking (INAUDIBLE) I did not know that she was (INAUDIBLE). Because I know her dad. We went to school together. We didn't see much of each other at school, but I know him from school.

Amanda, she got into my vehicle without even knowing who I was. And I'm not blaming - I'm not - I'm not putting the fault on her, but I'm saying, I'm trying to make a point across, I am not a violent predator that you are trying to make me look -- a monster. I'm not a monster. I'm a normal person. I am just sick. I have an addiction, just like an alcoholic has an addiction. Alcoholics cannot control their addiction. That's why I couldn't control my addiction, your honor.

But most of the sex that went on in that house, practically all of it, was consensual. These allegations about being forceful upon them, that is totally wrong. There was times that they would even ask me for sex. Many times. And I learned that these girls are not virgins like their testimony. They had multiple partners before me. All three of them. But that's basically it. I just want to clear the record that I am not a monster. I did not prey on these women. I just acted on my sexual instincts because of my sexual addiction. And God as my witness, I never beat these women like they're trying to say that I did. I never tortured them.

Finally, I would like to apologize to the victims, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. I am truly sorry for what happened. To this day, I am trying to answer my own questions. I don't know why. I man that had everything going on for himself. I had a job. I had a home. I had vehicles. My musical talent. I had everything going on for me, your honor.

I had a good history of working, providing. I just hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive me. Because we had a lot of family (ph) going on in that home. If you seen the YouTube video of Amanda this weekend, (INAUDIBLE) proves that that girl did not go through no torture. (INAUDIBLE) Did not go through torture. Because if that was true, do you think she would be out partying already and having fun? I don't think so.

I seen Gina, and in the media, she looks normal. She acts normal. A person that's been tortured, does not act normal. They would like (ph) act withdrawn and everything. On the contrary, they're the opposite. She's happy. Victims are happy. I haven't seen much of Michelle because Michelle, since day one, no one missed (ph) her. I never saw her by herself (ph). (INAUDIBLE). I feel that the FBI let these girls down because they (INAUDIBLE) - or they -- when they questioned - they question my daughter, that's OK, but they failed to question me. I'm her father. If they would have questioned me, you know, (INAUDIBLE) or whatever it happened (INAUDIBLE), it's possible that it would have ended right there.

So and also they forgot to mention that I did mention to the girls that I was addicted to porn, but I am truly sorry to the DeJesus family, Michelle, and Amanda, you guys know all the harmony (ph) that went on in that home. I ask God to forgive me. I ask my family and I apologize to my family also for putting them through all this. And I want to apologize to the state of Ohio, the city of Cleveland, (INAUDIBLE) all of this. I just want to apologize to everyone who was touched by these events.

But I do also want to let you know that there was harmony in that home. There was harmony at home. I was a good person. (INAUDIBLE). I never had a record. I just hope that they find it in their hearts to forgive me and to really do some research on people who have addictions so they can see how their addiction takes over lives.

So, again, I'm sorry to all of the victims. I'm sorry to my daughter because I know that -- God bless her, she's a miracle child. And God bless the women (ph) who -- but when, you know, there was times that she - when she was born, I know I could have taken her (INAUDIBLE). I could have taken her to the ER. And I chose not to. Thank God that nothing happened - nothing bad happened to her because she (INAUDIBLE), she started getting toothaches and I said to myself, I cannot let her die because of one infection. But God (ph) didn't take her life.

I was -- the situation, your honor, just - (INAUDIBLE) words but that's part of the problem that I have also, I will start talking and (INAUDIBLE). So I apologize to you, your honor, for bringing this case even into your courtroom. Again, thank you for - thank you, everyone, and I'm sorry for everything. I know that two judgment days when God comes and judges me but I'll be praying (ph) that (ph) I might (ph) be praying and asking for forgiveness. And due to the fact that I do have a sexual addiction (INAUDIBLE) the comment that the lady made for the DeJesus family at the end, that was uncalled for.

So, again, thank you, everyone. Thank you, victims. Please find it in your hearts to forgive me. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, your honor.

JUDGE: Thank you.

Mr. Castro, you have before you your plea agreement. And if you recall on page 10, part of the agreement was that you would execute all necessary documents and perform all acts to transfer right, title and interest in the real property 2207 Seymour Avenue in Cleveland to the Cuyahoga County Land Utilization Corporation, the land bank. So the other day after the plea hearing, that's what you did, is that correct?

CASTRO: That's correct.

JUDGE: You signed all the papers?

CASTRO: Yes, sir.

JUDGE: All right. And you understand that you are not entitled to seek any profit. You've agreed not to seek any profit from this matter, correct?

CASTRO: (INAUDIBLE). Say it again, I'm sorry?

JUDGE: You have agreed that you'll not seek any profit from this. In other words, you're not going to be writing a book and receiving funds, you won't be licensing anything.

CASTRO: Right. That is correct.

JUDGE: The only people that may in the future receive any benefit from this will be the victims, is that clear?

CASTRO: Yes.

JUDGE: Ms. Knight, thank you for your remarkable restraint during that statement.

MICHELLE KNIGHT, KIDNAPPING VICTIM: You're welcome.

JUDGE: Mr. Castro, you had several times both during the plea, colloquy and then again today mentioned that you don't feel you're a violent person. Perhaps you're not clearly understanding (INAUDIBLE) section 2971. It talks about what is a violent sex offense. And that includes the charge of rape. And you've pled guilty to a number of those. Hundreds of counts. It also defines sexually violent offense, means a violent sex offense for which a person was convicted of or pled guilty to with a sexual motivations factor (ph). And it talks about a sexually violent predator. So by operation of law, rape and such would then constitute a sexually violent offense. And you pled guilty to that and been found guilty of it. That's your plea. And a sexually violent offence and a likelihood to engage in the future in one or more sexually violent offenses qualifies a person as a sexually violent predator.

And here under 2971.01 page two, c, d, and e, where they talk about the available information or evidence suggests that the person chronically commits offenses with a sexual motivation, you'd have to admit that that happened here by virtue of the rape charges. If the person has committed one or more offenses in which the person has tortured or engaged in ritualistic acts with one or more victims, that seems to fit here, too. Also the person that's committed one or more offenses in which one or more victims were physically harmed to the degree that the particular victim's life was in jeopardy, and that most prominently occurred with Ms. Knight. So there are legal reasons that your attorneys I'm sure have considered and discussed with you why, although you may not like the wording or the terminology of the revised code, it fits, OK?

CASTRO: OK (INAUDIBLE).

JUDGE: It may be unpleasant to you.

CASTRO: (INAUDIBLE) violent crime (INAUDIBLE) makes me - it makes me sound like I (INAUDIBLE) forced myself onto them (ph). That didn't happen.

JUDGE: Well --

CASTRO: You know, (INAUDIBLE) -

JUDGE: That has -

CASTRO: (INAUDIBLE).

JUDGE: By virtue of your plea, that's what you did. You pled guilty to that and by virtue of your plea, when you rape someone, that's what it means.

So, Mr. Castro, in sentencing you and all others that come before this court on felony matters and, of course, there's one misdemeanor as well, but in coming before this court on felony matters, I have to comply with the felony sentencing statutes. The overall purpose is to punish the offender and protect the public from future crime by the offender and others using the minimum sanctions that the court determines accomplish those purposes without imposing unnecessary burden on state or local government resources. In imposing sentence, the court must consider the need for incapacitation, deterrents, rehabilitation and restitution. I have to come up with a sentence for you that's commensurate with and not demeaning to the seriousness of your conduct, its impact on the victims, and a sentence that's consistent with sentences for similar crimes by similar offenders. And also the sentence must not be based upon your race, ethnicity, gender or religion. Punish you here in terms of proportionality, which we'll get to later, but is looked back in the cases I've had there have been none in this - that have a scope approaching this, but in terms of harm to a victim, they're similar, although your misconduct here far exceeds the scope and duration of the defendants I'm going to mention. But I note that in Kevin Dominic's (ph) case, which was 300286, I imposed two consecutive life sentences for him.