Ariel Castro, Michelle Knight Cleveland Kidnapper, Had Sexual Fetish About Choking Her
The first of three women kidnapped by Ariel Castro and held captive in his Cleveland home was abused at the expense of her captor's sexual fetishes, she said in a taped interview Tuesday on the Dr. Phil show.
Michelle Knight opened up about claims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse she received from Castro, 53, after she was kidnapped in 2002 when she was about 20. The now 32-year-old said Castro lured her in with the promise of a puppy for her young son. She said she was then kept in a basement and a boarded-up bedroom for a decade.
Michelle Knight Says Ariel Castro Convinced Me 'My Family Didn't Care' [VIDEO]
Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus escaped from Castro's house on May 6 when Berry pushed out a door and called out to a neighbor for help. Knight has been the most public since, including addressing Castro at his sentencing and visiting his neighborhood before his house was demolished.
Castro was charged with rape, among many other counts, and Knight said he forced her to miscarry when he struck her with a barbell. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison, plus 1,000 years, on Aug. 1. A month into his sentence, the former school bus driver was found dead in his cell. His hanging death was ruled a suicide, but a prison report indicated he may have died accidentally while choking himself for a sexual thrill.
In the Dr. Phil interview, Knight said Castro had a sexual fetish about choking her but never himself. DNA tested confirmed that he impregnated Berry during her captivity and in Castro's basement, with the help if Berry and DeJesus, she gave birth to a daughter named Jocelyn. The child was 6 when rescued from Castro's home along with the three women.
The second part of Knight's interview aired Wednesday. Knight also detailed her years spent chained to a bed, starved and often naked.
Berry and DeJesus will share their stories in a book.
