The horrified children of Ariel Castro, the man charged with raping three young
women locked in his Cleveland house for a decade have denounced their father,
declaring: "We don't have monster in our blood".
As DNA tests confirmed that Castro fathered the six-year-old daughter of one
of his captives, the 52-year-old bus driver's adult children made tearful
apologies to his victims and their families.
"I am disgusted," said Angie Gregg, Castro's 33-year-old daughter. "There
will be no visits, there will be no phone calls. He can never be Daddy again. I
have no sympathy for the man."
Mrs Gregg, who frequently visited her father's home and ate with him there
just hours before his captives emerged, said she hoped their family would not be
tarred by his alleged crimes.
Ariel Castro and Angie Gregg in the late 80s
"They definitely are not a reflection of myself or my children," she told
CNN. "We don't have monster in our blood". The man she considered a good father
just days ago "is dead to me", she said.
Mike DeWine, Ohio's attorney general, announced yesterday that DNA tests
proved Castro fathered Jocelyn, a daughter born to Amanda Berry, one of his
kidnapping victims, on Christmas Day 2006.
Mrs Gregg disclosed that Castro had shown her a picture of Jocelyn,
describing her as "my girlfriend's child", before dismissing Mrs Gregg's
suggestion that the girl could be his daughter.
Amanda Berry, centre,
with her sister Beth Serrano and her daughter Jocelyn (AFP)
Insisting that she and her siblings had no idea of her father's actions, Mrs
Gregg conceded that she was now making sense of his odd behaviour and abrupt
disappearances. "It's all adding up," she said.
Castro is believed to be co-operating with investigators. Handwritten notes
taken from his house are said to state "I have a problem with my head" and to
blame abuse from a relative when he was young.
His daughter Arlene, who was the best friend of his captive Georgina DeJesus
at the time of her 2004 kidnapping, meanwhile apologised and said she hoped the
two could be reunited.
"I am absolutely so, so sorry," Ms Castro, 22, said on ABC News, tears
running down her cheeks. "I really want to see you, Gina, and I want you to meet
my kids. I'm so sorry for everything."
Arlene Castro
Castro is charged with kidnapping and raping Miss Berry, Miss DeJesus and
Michelle Knight, as well as kidnapping six-year-old Jocelyn. All four escaped
from his house on Seymour Avenue on Monday.
Prosecutors say they will attempt to elevate the charges to aggravated
murder, after Miss Knight told police that Castro impregnated her five times
before forcing her to miscarry by punching her stomach.
Deliberately causing "the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy" is
aggravated murder in Ohio law, and is punishable by death. Prosecutors may,
however, lack forensic evidence of the miscarriages.
The FBI said today that no human remains were found in searches of Castro's
house and garden. More than 200 items, including ropes and chains used as
restraints, were taken from the property.