Which part of Ariel Castro’s rambling speech yesterday was a “WTF” moment?
The whole damn thing!
At his sentencing hearing on Thursday, Castro, the man behind the Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus kidnappings, sat before a judge and berated the victims, police, family members, and everyone but himself for his own cruel actions.
And though we’re used to hearing some really messed up things in the media these days, Castro’s half-crying-blame-game statement completely disgusted us.
For starters, he opened his statement with this:
“First of all, I am a very emotional person so I will try to get it out.”
Then, the man who beat, raped, and kept three women in captivity for over a decade said:
“What I’m trying to get at is these people are trying to paint me as a monster, and I’m not a monster. I’m sick.”
After talking about his non-monster sex problems, he turned masturbation into an art:
“I lived a normal life, and I still practiced the art of touching myself when viewing pornography.”
And then he tried to convince us all that because he’s a musician, he can’t possibly be a monster:
“To be a musician and to be a monster like they say I am, I don’t think I can handle it. I’m a happy person inside.”
When talking about beating his ex-wife so bad that he broke her nose, he justified it with this statement:
“So what I am trying to say is what she is saying that I was wife beater, that is wrong, because this happened because I couldn’t get her to quiet down.”
And because he only beat people when they wouldn’t “quiet down,” he believes he’s totally not a violent person:
“But I’m saying they’re trying to say that I am violent person, and I’m not a violent person. Like I said, I drove a school bus, I’m a musician, I had a family.”
Oh…and he believes in human life apparently. But only because keeping three women against their will for 11 years made him happy. That has to count for something, right?
“I do have value for human life, because every time I came home, I would be so glad of the situation, as crazy it may sound. And my daughter just made every day for me after she was born.”
Then, he basically called Berry, DeJesus and Knight liars…even when the physical evidence proved that Castro chained the girls together, beat them and raped them repeatedly:
“These accusations that I would come home and beat her, beat them, those are totally wrong, your honor, because like I said before, I am not a violent person.”
He also proved to the court that he doesn’t have an understanding of the word “kidnap:”
“I know what I did is wrong but I am not a violent person. I simply kept them there without them being able to leave.”
Oh…then this happened. Try not to fall out of your chair:
“But, uh, most of the sex that went on in that house, practically all of it was consensual. These allegations about being forceful on them, that is totally wrong. There was times that they would even ask me for sex. Many times.”
And apparently, Castro is a member of the rape culture team too. Because non-virgins are allowed to be forced into sex:
“I learned that these girls are not virgins in their testimony to me. They had multiple partners before me. All three of them.”
Again:
“But, uh, that’s basically it. I just want to clear the record that I am not a monster, I did not prey on these women, I just acted on my sexual instincts because of my sexual addiction.”
And then…he finally hit us with his half-assed apology, reminding the victims about all the good times they had:
“I just hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive me. Because we had a lot of harmony going on in that home….I am truly sorry to the DeJesus family, Michelle, and Amanda, you guys know all the harmony that went on in that home.”
Oh, by the way, Castro also presented evidence to the court that suggests that Amanda Berry was not tortured:
“And if you seen the YouTube video of Amanda this weekend, that right there itself proves that that girl did not go through no torture. That woman did not go through torture. Because if that was true, do you think she would be out partying already and having fun? I don’t think so.”
And according to Castro, if the victims are having fun and smiling, there’s no way they could have endured all that they said they did:
“I seen Gina, and in the media, she looks normal. She acts normal. A person that’s been tortured just does not act normal. They would like act withdrawn and everything.”
And he confirmed, without even knowing it, that Michelle Knight was indeed the one that endured the most abuse at his hands by commenting that she wasn’t even that important:
“…Because Michelle, since Day One, no one missed her.”
Oh, and if you didn’t catch it above…it’s totally not Castro’s fault:
“I feel that the FBI let these girls down…If they would have questioned me, you know…it’s possible that it would have ended right there.”
And lastly…he’s not too happy with what the victim’s families have to say about him.
I only know the comment that the lady made for the DeJesus family at the end, that was uncalled for.
Seriously…that’s the note he ended on.
To see Ariel Castro’s delusional, disrespectful and totally bizarre speech, watch the video above.
And try your hardest not to punch your computer screen.
