During Cleveland kidnapper's Ariel Castro's sentencing hearing on Thursday, Judge Michael Russo said that the defendant fits the very definition of a "violent sexual predator," CNN reported.
Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty compared Castro to murderers John Wayne Gace and Ted Bundy," stressing that it is wrong to believe that in any way he suffered from mental illness.
"He is responsible," McGinty said. "He doesn't believe he did anything wrong. There is no remorse."
At some point during the hearing, Castro turned around in the courtroom and looked at family members of the victims expressing he is "truly sorry. Thank you victims. Please find it in your heart to forgive me... I'm not a violent person. I simply kept them so they couldn't leave," referring to the three young women, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, he held captive for almost a decade.
Prosecutor Anna Faraglia said that Castro "tormented (his victims) by allowing them to watch their vigils ... and even had the audacity to attend them." She further said that Castro would talk to his victims' parents as if he were distraught by their disappearances when "they were right underneath his roof," CNN reported.
During the hearing, Knight told her captor, Ariel Castro, during his sentencing hearing, "You took 11 years of my life away. ... I spent 11 years in hell. Now, your hell is just beginning. I can forgive you, but I will never forget... I will live on. You will die a little every day," Knight added.
Sylvia Colon, the cousin and spokesman for another victim Gina DeJesus, told Ariel Castro's family that "we do not hold you accountable" for his crimes. "It is not for us to judge or determine any punishment. Only a higher power can do that."
Beth Serrano, sister of kidnap victim Amanda Berry, said her sister does not want to speak about her ordeal to shield her daughter away from the details.
"She will do anything to protect her daughter," Serrano said.
Last week, Castro pleaded guilty, which spared him the death penalty. He will receive a life sentence plus 1,000 on 937 kidnapping, rape, torture and other charges.
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