XPost: az.politics, az.general, phx.eats   
   XPost: phx.onramp.general   
   From: rupert@dont-email.me   
      
   Michelle Knight who was raped and tortured during more than a   
   decade of captivity, faced her abuser, Ariel Castro, in court on   
   Thursday, assuring him that while her hell was over, his had   
   just begun.   
      
   "I spent 11 years in hell; now your hell is just beginning," she   
   said, addressing Castro, who admitted to abducting Knight,   
   Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus and subjecting them to years of   
   sexual and emotional abuse in his Cleveland home.   
      
   "I will overcome all this that happened," Knight said. "I will   
   live on; you will die a little every day."   
      
   Castro apologized to the three women he had held in captivity   
   for more than a decade, but blamed his actions on his own   
   history of sexual abuse and an addiction to pornography.   
      
   "People are trying to paint me as a monster, and I'm not a   
   monster. I am sick," he said.   
      
   Judge Michael Russo, of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court,   
   sentenced Castro to life without parole, saying he was a danger   
   to the public who thought of himself as the victim.   
      
   Knight, 32, said she cried herself to sleep and missed her son,   
   who was 2 1/2 years old at the time of her kidnapping in 2002.   
      
   Family members made statements on behalf of DeJesus and Berry.   
   DeJesus' cousin Sylvia Colon turned to the defendant at the end   
   of her statement, saying in Spanish: "To Ariel Castro: May God   
   take pity on his soul. Thank you."   
      
   After Knight spoke, Castro, 53, addressed the court, blaming his   
   actions on a history of his own sexual abuse and an addiction to   
   pornography.   
      
   Beth Serrano broke down in tears as she spoke of giving up her   
   sister, Amanda Berry, for dead and that their mother "died   
   without knowing" that Berry was still alive.   
      
   Castro, breaking into tears occasionally, said of the   
   allegations of rape: "Practically all of [the sex] was   
   consensual."   
      
   "There were times when they asked me for sex," he said, adding   
   "many times."   
      
   "I didn't prey on them, I just acted on my sexual urges," he   
   said.   
      
   "Finally, I want to apologize to the victims," Castro said. "I   
   am truly sorry for what happened."   
      
   In preparation for his final judgement before God, he was   
   "reading my Bible and praying," he said.   
      
   With the sentence essentially a forgone conclusion, the defense   
   and prosecution sparred over how many of the lurid details of   
   the rape and abuse of Berry, DeJesus and Knight would be   
   rehashed in court.   
      
   Attorneys for the state sought to pile on evidence to back the   
   977-count indictment against Castro — using photos and even a   
   model of the defendant's house — in an effort to make the case   
   appeal-proof. Castro pleaded guilty to 937 counts, including   
   kidnapping, rape and aggravated murder.   
      
   The defense objected to the prosecution's display. Attorney   
   Craig Weintraub acknowledged that much of Castro's crime was   
   "incomprehensible" but said it was more important to "protect   
   the dignity and privacy of these three women."   
      
   The judge said he would allow only what was "necessary under the   
   law to make a proper sentencing."   
      
   In other testimony:   
      
   Police officer Barb Johnson, one of the first responders at the   
   scene when the three women were freed May 6, described how   
   Knight "launched herself" into the arms of a fellow officer,   
   crying, "You saved us, you saved us!"   
      
   She said DeJesus "jumped into my arms" from a dark hallway in   
   the house.   
      
   The officer said she recognized the victim from missing persons   
   photos, but that DeJesus was obviously now a mature young woman   
   and "a lot thinner and paler."   
      
   Detective Andy Harasimchuk of the Cleveland Police Department   
   Sex Crime Unit said it was clear that all three women had been   
   chained or otherwise restrained for long periods of time.   
      
   Cleveland FBI Special Agent Andrew Burke, who examined the crime   
   scene in depth, said it was "surreal and difficult" for him even   
   after years of field experience.   
      
   http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-   
   way/2013/08/01/207871511/cleveland-kidnapper-asks-to-apologize-   
   for-decade-of-rape-abuse   
      
   The blacks will fill his sexual needs now. HAHAHAHA!   
      
                  
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)