Michelle Knight Victim to Ariel Castro [VIDEO]: Addresses Kidnapper 'Your Hell is Just Beginning'
Michelle Knight was able to confront her kidnapper Ariel Castro today standing only feet away from him
Castro, who pleaded guilty last week to 937 counts in a deal that eliminated a possible death penalty in exchange for life in prison plus a 1,000 years, kept Knight and two other women chained in his Cleveland house for more than a decade.
"My name is Michelle Knight, and I would like to tell you what 11 years was like for me," CNN reported she told the judge Thursday.
There has been much speculation about whether or not Knight and the women held captive with her, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry, would attend Castro's sentencing hearing.
32-year-old Knight, who wore a gray dress and purple eyeglasses, was in the same room with Castro for the first time since she was freed from his captivity on May 9 when a neighbor heard Berry's cries.
Knight was the only victim to address her captor directly. Berry's sister and DeJesus' cousin read statements on their behalf's.
"...I worried about what would happen to me and the other girls every day," Knight said. "Days never got shorter. Days turned into nights. Nights turned into days. Years turned into eternity."
Knight went missing on August 22, 2002, after being lured into Castro's car with a promise of a ride from a Family Dollar store.
"You took 11 years of my life away, and now I've got it back. I spent 11 years in hell, and now your hell is just beginning," Knight, who reportedly never looked at a handcuffed Castro, said.
Knight ended her statement on an uplifting note.
"After 11 years, I'm finally being heard. And it's liberating. Thank you, all. I love you. God bless you."
