<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"   After standing trial for holding Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus as sexual captives for a decade in his Cleveland home (with the aid of his two brothers), the verdict has come in for 53-year-old Ariel Castro after he pled guilty to 977 counts including kidnapping, rape, and aggravated murder.  After initially angling for a &amp;quot;not guilty&amp;quot; verdict, Castro pled out in order to avoid the death penalty, and the court has decided that he will receive life without parole\u2014plus 1,000 additional years. He kidnapped all three women \u2014 at 14, 16, and 20 years old respectively \u2014 between 2004 and 2006, and subjected them to rapes, forced abortions no less than 5 times, and general dehumanization in a variety of ways, each more horrible than the last, until they finally escaped in early May.   Castro seemed lucid at the trial today, informing the court that he had suffered &amp;quot;sexual problems throughout my whole years&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;was a victim as a child.&amp;quot; (Which he&amp;#039;s previously alluded to, but doesn&amp;#039;t vindicate his actions in the least.) He has requested visitation rights to his 6-year-old daughter with Amanda Berry, but has been (rightly) denied each time, with a prosecutor saying he wants to ensure Castro never sees the little girl again. Follow Anna on Twitter.   Image via Pacific Coast News.com "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/news/a14593/ariel-castro-sentenced-to-life/?click=cos_new>