Horrific Conditions of Cleveland Kidnapping Revealed in Police Report
A police report obtained by WKYC details the horrifying ordeal of the Cleveland kidnapping victims, which included beatings, brutal forced abortions, starvation, and death threats.
According to the report, one of the victims, Michelle Knight, was forced to deliver Amanda Berry's child in a plastic baby pool as Ariel Castro, the alleged kidnapper, looked on, issuing death threats.
"Michelle stated that Ariel told her that if the baby died, that he'd kill her," the police report states.
The report states that Castro impregnated Knight five times, and each time she was forced to undergo an absolutely barbaric abortion. Castro reportedly “starved [Knight] for at least two weeks, then he repeatedly punched her in the stomach until she miscarried."
The report also explains how the women's presence inside the home was kept secret for so long. All three women were initially kept chained in the basement, but were eventually freed “from the chains, to live upstairs on the second floor of Castro's Seymour Avenue home." The three women were let outside only to go in the backyard, and every time "they had to wear wigs and sunglasses and keep their heads down."
Also included in the report are details about how each women was abducted.
Knight said she was in the area of West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue when Castro offered her a ride home in August 2002, the report said.
Instead, Castro took her to his house where he chained her up in the basement, the report said.
Public records show that the mother of two of Castro's children lived just up the street in the 2200 block of West 106th Street at the time.
Meanwhile, Berry was walking home in April, 2003 from Burger King on West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue when Castro offered her a ride home, the report said.
Castro told her that his son also worked at Burger King. DeJesus told police that Castro initially approached her with Castro's daughter, the report said. The two girls went to school together.
Castro later returned without his daughter and told DeJesus that he would give her a ride to his house so they could hang out, the report said.
Instead, like the other two girls, Castro drove DeJesus to his house.
The dramatic rescue of the women, much of which has already been reported, is explained in greater detail. Berry noticed that Castro failed to lock the “big inside door" after he went to McDonald's on Monday, but she told police she was scared to open the exterior storm door because “she thought Ariel (Castro) was testing her." She eventually managed to get the attention of neighbor Charles Ramsey and called the police.
When police arrived at the house, they first checked the basement and then the home's second floor.
"As we neared the top of the steps, Officer Espada hollered out, 'Cleveland Police,' at which time ... Knight ran and threw herself into (Officer) Espada's arms," the officer writing the report noted. "We then asked if there was anyone else upstairs with her, when (DeJesus) came out of the bedroom. "
Espada then put Knight down and DeJesus jumped into the officer's arms.
Knight remains in the hospital, but both Berry and DeJesus went home to their families on Wednesday. Ariel Castro was charged Wednesday with four counts of kidnaping and three counts of rape.
[Image via AP]