US: Alleged rapist now facing more than 300 charges
Published:Saturday | June 8, 2013 | 6:28 PM
The man accused of imprisoning and repeatedly raping three women in his home in Cleveland, Ohio, is now facing more than 300 criminal charges.
52-year-old Ariel Castro is facing a total of 329 charges, including 139 counts of rape and 177 counts of kidnapping, seven counts of gross sexual imposition and three counts of assault.
He also faces two counts of aggravated murder for terminating one of the women's pregnancies.
The women, 32-year-old Michelle Knight, 27-year-old Amanda Berry and 23-year-old Gina DeJesus, were rescued from Castro’s home after more than a decade in captivity.
Prosecutors announced yesterday that the accused kidnapper will be formally arraigned on the new charges next week and that a trial judge will be appointed to the case.
Castro’s legal team has indicated that he will plead not guilty to any indictment.
He is being held on US$8-million bail and prison officials said, this week, he had been taken off suicide watch.
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