Amanda Berry, Missing Cleveland Woman Found, Part of Ohio Courage Fund Raising Almost $500,000
A charity set up to help the three women freed from nearly 10 years of captivity in a Cleveland house has raised more than $480,000 so far, according to an official.
Lynne Woodman of KeyBank said there have been more than 5,100 donations to what has been dubbed the Cleveland Courage Fund. She said donations have come from all 50 states and foreign countries, and that the money will go into four trust funds established for the victims.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight - along with Berry's 6-year-old child Jocelyn, born in the house during captivity - were freed from the suspected kidnapper Ariel Castros' home in Cleveland on May 6. DNA testing confirmed that Castro is the father of Berry's 6-year-old daughter.
Castro's brothers - Onil and Pedro Castro - said in an interview with CNN that during the time the women and child were held captive, they saw their brother Ariel take Jocelyn out. They were spotted together at fast food restaurants and even at the park. When asked who she was, Ariel told neighbors she was his girlfriend's daughter.
Ariel, a 52-year-old former bus driver, was charged on May 9 with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. He is being held on an $8 million bond and remains jailed under suicide watch.
"The charges against Mr. Castro are based on premeditated and depraved decision to snatch the three young ladies ... to be used in whatever self-gratifying, self-satisfying way he saw fit," prosecutor Brian Murphy told Judge Lauren Moore during Ariel's sentencing.
A former federal prosecutor speaking for the three victims said during a Mother's Day press conference that the women have asked - "in fact, have pleaded" - for privacy following the media frenzy around their rescue. Attorney James Wooley said they want media to leave them alone "so that they can continue to heal and reconnect with their families."
"Give them the time, the space and the privacy so that they can continue to get stronger," he added.
