US kidnapper Ariel Castro gets life, plus 1,000 years

Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for kidnapping three women in his Ohio home.

Chicago: Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for kidnapping three women and holding them captive for a decade in his Ohio home.

Judge Michael Russo imposed the hefty sentence for an aggravated murder charge laid after Castro forcibly terminated the pregnancies of one of his captives. He also imposed stiff penalties for hundreds of others charges including rape and kidnapping. In a rambling, unprepared statement, Castro frequently contradicted his guilty pleas last month to charges of abduction, rape and other violent crimes against the women. He claimed that sex with the three women was "consensual" and denied having beaten or tortured them. "I`m not a monster. I`m sick," he said. "I know what I did was wrong, but I am not a violent person. I simply kept them there." He apologised to the victims, his own family and others in the community. "I am truly sorry for what happened. To this day, I`m trying to ask my own questions. I don`t know why," he said, sobbing. AFP