to debate the judge, and he attempted to turn perceptions around and portray himself as a victim. despite the 937 counts against him, ariel castro was defiant, almost rebellious in court, claiming he never beat or tortured the three women he held captive for a decade. i am not a monster. i m just sick. i had an addiction, just like an alcoholic has an addiction. reporter: an addiction to sex, castro said, the result, he claimed, of having been a victim himself of sex acts as a child. in one of the more breathtaking moments at his sentence the man who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape said this about his victims. most of the sex that went on in the house, practically all of it, was consensual. these allegations about being forceful on them, that is totally wrong, because there was times that they would even ask me for sex, many times. reporter: a staggering claim balanced against photos the
going on in that home. and as castro was led away, michelle walked out of the courtroom finally free to start the rest of her life. and the number to keep in mind beyond the sentence that castro got, life plus 1,000 years, is another staggering number, 13,226, the number of days that those three women were held going back to the first girl that was taken, michelle knight. wolf? she was really amazing, that michelle knight and this courage, the strength of her statement. the other two, amanda berry and gina de jesus, they do not want to appear. did they offer an explanation? no, the attorney said that simply at this time in their life they weren t ready. they felt this was the best way to go forward and quite frankly, michelle, especially in the words of the judge, he said that
granted temporary asylum in russia, forcing president obama to make some very, very tough choices. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. he was about to be sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years, but ariel castro tried to convince the judge that there was harmony in the house where he held three women as sex slaves. during today s hearing in ohio, we got a very disturbing window into castro s depraved mind and the abuse his victims endured for more than a decade. we have extensive coverage coming up this hour. let s go to brian todd here in the situation room first with more on what has unfolded, and it is a house of horrors. it really is, wolf. castro was as disturbing to watch today as anyone we have seen in a high-profile crime case. even as he was about to be slapped with a sentence of life plus 1,000 years, castro tried
that all three of the victims had previously been friends with at least two of castro s daughters or his son. now, we had been told by a private investigator in cleveland, when we were there, that one of castro s daughters would go shopping with one of the victims, gina dejesus, go to festivals with her, and that, apparently, appears now to be castro s entry into this. this is how he maneuvered his way to get close to those victims. a real monster, indeed. all right, brian, thanks very much. let s discuss what s going on with our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. jeff, let me play another clip. this is ariel castro pushing back against the judge. [ inaudible ] makes it sound like i m trying to force myself on to them. by virtue of your plea, that s what you did. you pled guilty to that, and by virtue of your plea, when you rape someone, that s what it
prosecution revealed in court chains, ties, even a motorcycle helmet that police say was placed on at least one victim when she was sexually assaulted. a door rigged with an alarm clock to signal castro if someone was trying to get out, showing a model of his home, officials said he reconfigured the house to keep the women hidden. even with the presentation of this huge trove of evidence, ariel castro was still bold enough to interrupt the judge several times. this exchange was over the aggravated murder charge. [ inaudible ] fetus. that never happened. mr. castro, you talked with your attorneys and made a decision to plead guilty to count 1 as indicted, correct? yes, i did, and i did not kill anyone. i am not a murderer. reporter: the only victim to appear, michelle knight, who said she spent 11 years in hell. days never got shorter. days turned into nights, nights turned into days, years turned