Ariel Castro sentenced to life in prison

The Ohio man convicted of holding three women captive in his Cleveland house for over a decade has been sentenced to life without parole.

53-year old Ariel Castro was given his sentence today after pleading guilty to all 937 charges, including aggravated murder, kidnapping, rape and assault. He received the life sentence for the most serious count and was sentenced to additional time for the hundreds of other lesser counts.

Castro struck a plea deal last week that spared him from a possible death sentence for beating and starving one of his victims, who was pregnant at the time, until she miscarried.

One of the victims, Michelle Knight, spoke directly to Castro today in court.

“I can forgive you, but I will never forget. With the guidance of God, I will prevail and help others that have suffered at the hands of others. I will live on and you will die a little every day as you think about 11 years and atrocities you inflicted on us,” she said.

Knight went on to say that after 11 years, she’s finally being heard, and it’s “liberating”.

The three women, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, all disappeared between 2002 and 2004. They escaped in May when Berry managed to yell to neighbors for help.