Ariel Castro’s rambling courtroom statement, in which the convicted kidnapper and rapist insisted he is "not a monster," had many wondering what he was thinking. Clinical psychologist Dr. Yuki Konomi joined CTV's Canada AM to share her insight on what might have been behind his controversial speech.
During his sentencing on Thursday, Castro gave a drawn-out, rambling speech in which he claimed his crimes stemmed from an addiction to pornography.
He also said he had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child and that much of the sex with his three victims was consensual.
While Castro did apologize to the three women he victimized, he said that the Cleveland home where he would, at times, keep the women chained had "harmony."
Analyzing Castro’s remarks, Konomi said he may have been trying to elicit sympathy.
And, the Ontario-based clinical psychologist told Canada AM, she doesn't think Castro actually believed what he was saying. Instead, she said he may have been using the opportunity to rationalize his actions.
"I think he was saying it to justify his doing or somehow, maybe, trying to solicit sympathy from some viewers who are not very familiar with what really went on in the court," she said.
"It's easy to see that he was just trying to evade a sense of responsibility … but if you just take a snapshot of that statement, some people may actually believe 'Hey, maybe this guy has some heart and actually feels bad about it.'"
Konomi said that Castro's refusal to take responsibility for his crimes is a trait typical in psychopaths.
"Usually the psychopathic traits involve the personality traits of a lack of remorse, lack of compassion and empathy," she said. "They will do things to hurt others without thinking about others, basically."
During the sentencing one of Castro's victims, Michelle Knight, read a victim impact statement to the court.
She directly addressed Castro, telling him that despite the 11 years he held her captive, she would overcome the ordeal and not let it define her.
Knight also told him that she could forgive him, but she would never forget.
Konomi said it appeared that Knight was still "very angry" at her captor.
"I think she's on her way to forgiveness, (but) it's been only around three months since she's been freed," she said.
"It hasn't been enough time for her to go through absorbing what happened and recover properly and really move on to forgiveness just yet."
She said it wasn't surprising that during the hearing Castro never directly looked at Knight and that she often tells her own clients to expect such behaviour.
"When I help victims of sexual abuse who go on to the stand to read a victim impact statement, I will say 'Be prepared not to see any emotional reaction or any sign of remorse from the perpetrator, because they may just not show it there,'" she said.
Castro was convicted of kidnapping and repeatedly raping Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus during more than a decade of captivity in a Cleveland home.
He was sentenced Thursday to life without parole plus 1,000 years, after pleading guilty to 937 counts including kidnapping, rape and assault.
