Ariel Castro indicted on 329 counts in Cleveland kidnappings (VIDEO)

July 30, 2016

By Sarah Wolfe

Ariel Castro, 52, appears in court May 9, 2013, to faces charges that he kidnapped and raped three young women and held them in his Cleveland home for a decade. He did not enter a plea and stood with his head bowed while the court set bail at $8 million.
Emmanuel Dunand

Ariel Castro was indicted Friday on 329 counts of rape, murder and kidnapping for allegedly holding three women captive in his Cleveland home for nearly a decade.

One charge accuses the 52-year-old former school bus driver of aggravated murder for purposely causing the unlawful termination of a pregnancy, authorities told CNN.

One of the three women told police she was impregnated five times by Castro but forced to abort each time through beatings and starvation. Another woman bore a child fathered by him.

Other charges include 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, three counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools.

Additional charges are possible, and the prosecutor's office said it will consider whether the case is appropriate for the death penalty.

Castro is set to be arraigned next week.

The women were discovered May 6 after one of them, Amanda Berry, broke free from Castro's house and led police to Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.

Berry gave birth to a daughter while held captive. Berry, now 27, disappeared April 21, 2003, a day before her 17th birthday. Knight, now 32, disappeared Aug. 22, 2002, the day she was to appear at a custody hearing for her son. DeJesus, now 21, disappeared April 2, 2004.

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