Ariel Castro's formal sentencing hearing was today. Castro plead guilty to 937 charges stemming from the kidnap, imprisonment, rape, beating, starving and forced miscarriages of three young women, in order to avoid the death penalty. He'll serve a life sentence plus 1,000 years, without the chance of parole.
Imagine drawing the public defender short straw and ending up with this guy as a client.
I'm pretty sure that his public defender hates him, because he didn't stop Castro from speaking in public. The things that come out of that man's mouth are just beyond belief.
I'm not going to pass judgment on whether Castro was or was not molested as a child, as he claims, or whether or not he has a pornography addiction, as he also claims. I will say that it is an unconscionable slap in the face to every victim of childhood abuse, everywhere, to claim that his actions are the result of this. I personally can introduce him to a significant number of people, male and female, who lived through such horrors, at the hands of family members and at the hands of strangers, and they have all become compassionate, productive people. They try their hardest to shield others from horror, not to inflict it. Whether you know it or not, you probably know some of these people as well. They might be a teacher, a store clerk, a doctor, the parent of your children's friends, and if they didn't tell you, you'd never know what they lived through. Never, ever would they say, "I am not responsible for my behavior because of what happened to me," never.
Castro obviously needs some significant instruction in how to behave like a human being, as well as some instruction in the English language.
Mr. Castro,
Perhaps your schooling wasn't the best. Perhaps you don't own a dictionary. Let me explain something about "consensual" sex to you. It can only be consensual if both parties have the choice to be anywhere they choose, doing anything that they choose, with any companion that they choose, and with those infinite choices in front of them, they choose to have sex with one another. Women held against their will cannot engage in consensual sex. They cannot "ask" you to have sex with them, no matter what words you have programmed them to utter or actions you have programmed them to take. Unless they are free to go anywhere they choose and do anything they choose and then they come to you, the words and actions they exhibit in captivity are only examples of self preservation. They are not examples of how those women actually feel about you.
The same is true for the actions taken to end the lives of the unborn babies these women were carrying. It makes no difference how many times you say that Michelle chose, or you chose together. Even if we take your word for the fact that Michelle expressed an opinion on how to kill her children, and I doubt that she did, those words and actions were examples of her trying to minimize her own pain and maximize her own chances for survival. That, again, is a survival instinct, not any example that she agreed with you or agreed to her treatment.
And how amazing is Michelle Knight? To nullify Castro's claim that mistreatment guarantees predatory behavior, we need look no further than the walls of his own home. Michelle, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry all protected one another and the child in their home. Michelle literally saved the baby girl's life at her birth. It would have been so easy to give up, to wish for death, to turn against each other or to attempt suicide, but those women rose above their circumstances. They shielded one another. They have a strength that Castro never had and never will. Two of them were teens when they were taken, the other was barely old enough to legally buy beer, and yet their strength dwarfs that of a man decades their senior.
Gina and Amanda chose not to speak in court, not to give Castro another moment of their time and attention. That is a strong choice, worthy of praise. Michelle chose to walk into a room with him and force him, for once, to hear what she had to say, to take the upper hand. That is a strong choice, worthy of praise. Amazing, amazing women!
Ariel, when you say, "When I picked up the first victim, I didn't even plan it that day," how do you think we, the ordinary people hearing you, are going to respond? Do you think we'll say, "Oh, you didn't plan it? No problem then"? Even if you didn't plan it, you did it! Then, you had 10 years and almost 9 months to reverse that action, to do something to make it better, and you didn't! You kept her, because what you wanted was more important than her life! Instead, you took two more young women and subjected them to the same hell! Do you imagine that anyone will say, "Oh, as long as that first kidnapping was an impulse action, it's OK"? And why should we care if you planned it "that day" or any other day? Why would that matter? I would have far, far more respect for someone who did plan to kidnap and/or rape someone, but then decided not to, than I have for you and your, "I didn't plan it, but I spent more than a decade carrying it out" sorry excuse. You do not get to claim that your actions every single day for almost 4,000 days in a row are the result of a "problem" with "impulse control."
How do you imagine, for even a moment, that whether the young women were virgins before you took them would have any bearing at all on the situation? Do you imagine that normal people will say, "Oh, well, if they weren't virgins, they deserved to be kidnapped, held against their will, subjected to threats, raped or anything else that anyone might do to them"? It wouldn't matter if they had been prostitutes before you took them! What you did is wrong because it is wrong, period. It is not wrong to do to virgins but understandable to do to anyone who's had sex before. And let's not forget, no one has any incentive to believe a word that you say. You have demonstrated that you are dishonest to the core.
The truly astonishing part about these kinds of statements is that this is Castro's one chance to make us feel some understanding for him, to demonstrate some mitigating circumstance, and this is what he comes up with. I cannot imagine how much worse his behavior is when the world is not watching. Gina was so terrified that, even after Amanda, her daughter and Michelle had all embraced their rescuers, Gina hesitated to leave the bedroom where she was kept. There is a special place in hell for people who treat others that way.
Ariel, I don't want to hear that you didn't harm them because "Gina looks normal" on TV. Look in the mirror. You look normal, but you are not. If looks alone could tell us what a person will do, or has been through, the world would be a very different place. You, for instance, would not have spent years inflicting this kind of pain on others. We would all see you for what you are, from a distance. You should thank heaven that looks cannot tell us what's inside a person. That fact saved you from extreme violence against you.
To say that, "I feel that the FBI let these girls down" is a statement of staggering arrogance. The FBI didn't kidnap them. The FBI didn't chain them, beat them, pull a gun on them, keep them in the dark. YOU did that. To further say that, "It's possible that it would have ended right there" if you were questioned truly speaks to the rot in your soul. To know that it's only "possible" that you would cease inflicting pain and imprisoning others if you feared that something bad would happen to YOU is evidence of depravity.
As for your assertion that, "I'm not a violent person. I simply kept them there without them being able to leave," you can test out that thinking in prison. Your captors won't beat or threaten you - it's against the law. They won't chain you to a bed, a post, the floor or any other part of your room; that, too, is illegal. You'll have an actual toilet, not the plastic bucket you gave these women. You'll be fed three times a day, not the one time a day you fed the women. You will be allowed to experience light, even the outdoors. You'll have access to books, a TV, exercise equipment, even classes. Your jailers will not force you to have sex with them - again, that's illegal. They will simply prevent you from leaving. We'll see if you think that's a small thing after you've experienced 9 to 11 years of that. But wait - there's more! That will now be your reality for the rest of your life. Not such a bad deal, is it? I mean, it's not like your jailers are violent.
What a contrast - the strength and resilience of the women, and the lack of conscience of Castro.
I won't think about you very often in the years to come, Ariel. I will think very, very often about Michelle, Amanda and Gina.
Ladies, Michelle, Amanda and Gina, living well is truly the best revenge. Your lives now can be what YOU want them to be. So can the life of a little girl who can now grow up in the sunshine. You are heroes, ladies, all of you. You make the rest of us proud to be women, proud to be human, proud to be witnesses to your strength. Bravo.
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