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A picture from Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office of suspect Ariel Castro/AFP

World

US kidnapper insists “I am not a monster”

They repeatedly called out “Cleveland police” and heard a “pitter patter” of feet, which stopped.

Johnson shined the light on herself so the approaching woman could see they really were police officers, at which point Knight “literally launched herself” into another officer’s arms.

“Legs, arms, just choking him,” Johnson said.

“And she just kept repeating: ‘You saved us, you saved us.’”

Gina DeJesus, who was just 14 when she was abducted, was initially too afraid to leave her room, Johnson added.

Prosecutors said they relied on diaries kept by the women during their lengthy captivity for many of the 977 criminal charges lodged against Castro.

Berry initially addressed her entries to her mother, according to a report by a psychiatrist who evaluated the women. After learning of her mother’s death, she wrote to soothe her mother’s spirit in heaven.

The entries spoke of rape, vicious beatings, of being chained to a wall and locked in a dark room, of “being treated like an animal,” of “anticipating the next session of abuse,” and of “his threats to kill,” prosecutors said.

The women also wrote of “dreams of some day escaping and being reunited with family,” of “missing the lives they once enjoyed” and of their overwhelming desire for freedom.

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DNA tests showed that Castro fathered Berry’s child. He has asked Judge Michael Russo to allow him to see her, a request the judge deemed “inappropriate.”

Police do not understand why none of the people who visited the unassuming house at 2207 Seymour including Castro’s family and girlfriend realized what was going on there.

His victims have begged the media and public to respect their privacy and give them time to heal. In a statement last week they said they were “relieved” by the plea deal and “satisfied by this resolution to the case.”

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