A suspect has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape in connection with the abductions of three young women who disappeared for about a decade until they were rescued this week.
Cleveland prosecutor Victor Perez said his office is filing the charges against Ariel Castro, 52, who will be formally arraigned Thursday morning in Cleveland municipal court.
The kidnapping charges relate to the four newly freed victims: Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and a six-year-old child that investigators confirmed is Berry’s daughter.
The rape charges relate to DeJesus, Knight and Berry, said Cleveland’s deputy police chief Ed Tomba.
No charges will be filed against Castro’s brothers, Pedro Castro, 54, and Onil Castro, 50, who police had detained at the same time as Ariel.
“There is no evidence that these two individuals had any involvement in the commission of the crimes committed against Michelle, Gina, Amanda and the minor child,” Perez told reporters at a news conference Wednesday evening.
However, the brothers will both appear in court Thursday on unrelated outstanding warrants.
The case came to light Monday when one of the missing women, Amanda Berry, was able to kick out the screen from the door of a Cleveland home and escape with the help of a neighbour. When police arrived they also found DeJesus and Knight in the home, along with the six-year-old child.
Knight disappeared in 2002 when she was 20, Berry in 2003 when she was 16, and DeJesus about a year after that, when she was 14.
Ariel Castro owns the home at 2207 Seymour Avenue where the girls were found.
Tomba told reporters Wednesday evening that more than 200 pieces of evidence were taken from the home. He said all three women have been interviewed by police, as well as Ariel Castro, who waived his Miranda rights and provided investigators with a full statement.
Tomba said that despite reports to the contrary, the women never left the home during the time they were held captive and found their only opportunity to escape on Monday.
“They don’t believe that they’ve been outside that home for the last 10 years respectively,” Tomba said. They remember only moving into the garage area on two occasions, both times while wearing disguises.
Police would not say how the women were taken captive or how their presence was kept secret for so long.
But according to a Cleveland police report, the three victims told officers that, in each case, Ariel Castro offered them a ride home and ended up taking them to the Seymour Avenue house.
Tomba said police do not believe there are any other victims “where (Castro) is the suspect.”
When asked how the women were kept in the house, whether they were bound with restraints or drugged, Tomba said police have yet to determine if drugs played a role in the abductions. He would not comment on reports that they had been restrained, or that the women had been impregnated but suffered miscarriages.
According to the police report, Michelle Knight told officers that she was pregnant at least five times. She alleged that Castro would starve her and punch her in the stomach until she miscarried.
Knight also said that she helped deliver Amanda Berry’s daughter. Castro allegedly told her that if the baby died, he would kill her.
According to Tomba, a DNA sample was taken from Castro to determine if he is the father of Berry’s child.
Family connection
While Tomba said there is no evidence to suggest that the women knew Castro before the abductions, details emerged Wednesday that he was friends with Gina’s father, Felix DeJesus, during the period in which she was missing. Castro had handed out flyers with Gina’s picture, performed at a fundraiser for her family and comforted her mother at a candlelight vigil last year.
An uncle of Gina DeJesus, Tito, also played in bands with Ariel Castro for several years. Castro played bass guitar.
It also emerged that some neighbours interacted with the Castro brothers, sharing their passion for music, motorcycles, cars and barbecue, and were often at the property though never inside the house.
On Wednesday, the three women continued the process of reconnecting with their families.
Gina DeJesus arrived at her family’s home in a black minivan shortly before 3 p.m. ET Wednesday. Her father exited the van first, pumping his fists in the air as a crowd of onlookers chanted, ‘Gina, Gina.’”
Then Gina, now 23, exited the van clad in a yellow hoodie. With her head covered, she was ushered into the home by another woman.
Metal barriers were erected around the property and colourful balloons adorned the front gate as friends, family and neighbours waited to catch a glimpse of the young woman who disappeared nine years ago.
Gina’s parents, Nancy and Felix, both addressed the gathered crowd, thanking law enforcement officials, the community and family for their ongoing support.
“I’m the one that had the heart and soul to fight to see this day, because I knew my daughter was out there alive,” Felix DeJesus said. “I knew she needed me, and I never gave up, never gave up searching for her.”
Felix DeJesus then made an impassioned plea to the community to “come out and watch the kids, even though you’re not their parent.
“Guess what? You just became their parent. Too many kids these days come out missing, and we always ask this question: ‘How come I didn’t see what happened to that kid?’ Why? Because we chose not to.”
Nancy DeJesus thanked those who believed Gina was still alive, as well as those who doubted.
“I want to thank everybody that believed, even when I said she was alive and believed,” Nancy DeJesus said.
“Even the ones that doubted, I still want to thank them the most because they’re the ones that made me stronger, the ones that made me feel the most that my daughter was out there.”
Earlier Wednesday, Amanda Berry returned home.
Minutes after the 27-year-old arrived home, her sister, Beth Serrano, made a brief statement asking for privacy and thanking the public for their support over the years.
Cleveland police had earlier said Amanda herself would speak, but that changed moments before Serrano emerged to address the throngs of reporters gathered outside the family’s house.
"We have Amanda and her daughter home. I want to thank the public and the media for their support and encouragement over the years and at this time our family would request privacy so my sister and niece and I can have time to recover," Serrano said. "We appreciate all you have done for us over the past 10 years. Please, respect our privacy until we are ready to make our statements, and thank you."
Berry had arrived home in a police motorcade under heavy security. In footage taken from a news helicopter, someone could be seen carrying a young child into the home -- possibly Berry's daughter.
Hundreds of people stood outside the house where a banner saying "Welcome Home Amanda" decorated the front porch along with balloons and bows.
Cleveland police commander Thomas McCartney had told reporters he didn't want a "circus situation" and asked them to be respectful, give Berry her space and to attempt to avoid taking photos or videos of the child.
Meanwhile, the third woman held captive, Michelle Knight, was reported to remain in “good” condition in hospital. Knight, 32, is believed to have been the first victim abducted in 2002.
Police are facing questions about their handling of the investigation over the years, visits that were made to the run-down house and complaints neighbours said they made to law enforcement.
Police said they had been to the home twice in the past 15 years. The first time, in 2000 before the women went missing, Castro himself called police to report a fight in the street.
Then in 2004, city officials went to the home to interview Castro, then a school bus driver, after he left a child on the bus after returning it to the depot. No one answered the door when officials knocked, and they left, speaking to Castro at a later time. Investigators eventually determined there was no criminal intent and Castro was not charged.
With files from The Associated Press
