'Most of the sex ... was consensual': Castro's blame-the-victim act all too familiar, abuse experts

[Galraedia]

Source: NBC News

Ariel Castro’s words at his sentencing hearing on Thursday are almost jaw-dropping. Given a chance to speak before he was sentenced to life in prison, plus a thousand years for aggravated murder and for holding three young women captive for 11 years, he repeatedly blamed his victims.

He denied he raped and beat Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, claiming instead that they asked him for sex and that his sexual addiction was to blame. He even said the abuse couldn't have been that bad because DeJesus "looks normal." While many onlookers were astonished, abuse experts said they hear that kind of language and justification every day.

NBC News asked them to weigh in on specific comments Castro made:

"Most of the sex that went on in that house, probably all of it, was consensual," Castro said. "These allegations about being forceful on them -- that is totally wrong. Because there was times where they'd even ask me for sex --many times. And I learned that these girls were not virgins. From their testimony to me, they had multiple partners before me, all three of them."

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/most-sex-was-consensual-castros-blame-victim-all-too-familiar-6C10821794

[AlbertCat]

1. MOST of the sex?????

I'm sure most of the sex he will be having in prison for the rest of his miserable life will be consensual too. And he'll be a captive too! Let's hope he enjoys it as much as his victims did.

[Ilsa]

3. I agree with you completely.

But be careful how you phrase this. Some DUers get upset by wishing for karmic justice.

[AlbertCat]

6. Some DUers get upset

What's to get upset over?

It's CONSENSUAL!

Besides, we know he's had many other sex partners. He's no virgin.

[uppityperson]

21. Rape is nothing to wish on anyone, even a rapist. Prison rape is not a joke.

[panzerfaust]

25. He, and those like him, are the reason that I support the death penalty

... some people simply cannot live with the rest of us, and no one deserves life in prison.

I do have a problem though with how the death penalty has historically been used more for those who are poor and black, than those who are rich and white.

None-the-less, we should not have to know that this twisted person still lives, that there is always the chance that he will somehow be released. He needs to be safely in his grave.

[duhneece]

30. Amen! No one, NO ONE deserves to be raped

It's not about who they are; it's about who WE are.

[Gormy Cuss]

47. Rape wasn't part of the sentence.

Period.

Aside from the moral issue of wishing rape on someone, encouraging a lawless environment in prison is short sighted.

[uppityperson]

33. Some of us are so silly we want him locked away forever, not raped in return.

wishing for retribution is not "karmic justice"

[Ilsa]

34. I hope the man that

broke into my house, robbed me, threatened to kill me, raped me, was assaulted in prison for stealing years of my life. I hope he feels the pain he inflicted on me and three other women that he raped, and I don't care what you think about me for feeling that way about him.

[Yo_Mama]

39. Sorry for what you suffered

That's a terrible ordeal.

It's hard to think that this man still has so little understanding of what he has done, and harder yet to imagine him ever leaving prison. I hope he dies there.

[Ilsa]

41. Thank you for understanding.

He changed the course of my life. My life was put on hold for almost five years while I recovered. That delay had severe consequences.

[Wait Wut]

2. I'm glad they get free health care in prison.

I want him to live a really, really long time in a cell. Four gray walls, an uncomfortable cot, lousy food...still better than what those women got from him.

[Ilsa]

4. Sociopath. He hasn't learned a damn thing about

how he abused and tortured these women. Fuck him with a tall cactus.

[geek tragedy]

5. piece of filth. enjoy your time as a prisoner instead of the warden, asshole nt

[sheshe2]

7. What a sick warped person! nt

[Gormy Cuss]

8. Key quote:"abuse experts said they hear that kind of language and justification every day."

As sick and twisted as Castro is, he's not unique. Other sexual predators think the same way and their victims hear similar justifications every day.

It's one of the reasons why intolerance of slut-shaming is important -- NO ONE should use prior sexual experience as permission to sexually abuse someone.

eta: the link also talks about physical abuse and the abused deserving it. It's worth reading.

[Squinch]

11. Great point. This guy thinks that because the girls weren't virgins, he had the right to

rape them. A not uncommon, but completely archaic "damaged goods" mentality that reduces women to the status of appliances.

[petronius]

18. Absolutely - it's a chilling article not because (at least not mainly because)

of what Castro said, but because of how unsurprised the experts were. There's a temptation to hold this stuff at arm's length a bit (after all, I/you/we aren't like that, and this guy is a freaky one-off monster anyway, right?), but the repetition of how common this thinking is - at varying degrees of intensity - is quite compelling...

[LiberalLoner]

27. +1

[tblue]

9. I want to cuss so bad.

You all know what I'm saying in my head.

[NewJeffCT]

10. I'm sure he probably convinced himself of that

while he had these girls/young women prisoner in his basement.

[Brigid]

12. "I'm not a violent person.

"I simply kept them there without being able to leave."

Jaw-dropping all right. I hope enjoys being kept in prison without being able to leave. Sick, sick, sick!

[truthisfreedom]

13. "Welcome to your new digs, Mr Castro. This is Bubba, your cellmate.

He's been looking forward to meeting you."

[jessie04]

31. "And everything that happens in this cell will be consensual"

"Just like at your old house"

[rocktivity]

14. He left out the part about how they also forced him

to hold them captive...


rocktivity

[TBF]

15. I can't believe his lawyers allowed him to talk. nt

[christx30]

38. At this point,

there's not really left to lose. Like breaking a window in a house that's burned to the ground.

[msanthrope]

45. It's not up to the lawyer---if your client wants to act the fool, there's really little you

can do. You can advise your client, but if they will not listen, then you cannot stop them.

You know, there's some people who simply do not conform to any societal expectations. None.

[TBF]

50. That makes sense -

Just glad they finally caught him and he'll be away where he can't hurt anyone.

[msanthrope]

54. He's leaving prison in a pine box or an ash can,

to quote the prosecutor.

[trublu992]

16. This trash isn't going to last long in prison

[Kennah]

17. Hard to say

In protective custody, he should be fine. Anyone have a sense of how Ohio carries out such requests for protective custody?

[Niceguy1]

26. he probably

Will go directly to protective custody, whether he wantd to or not. Many times the admin decides to maintain peace in the facility.

[blue neen]

19. Castro is disgusting.

I don't know how those young ladies and their families were able to sit there and listen to this animal speak.

It made me sick to the stomach.

[LiberalLoner]

28. It was hard for me to stomach too. Sounded like my father and brother's justification of what they

did to me. They thought I deserved to get raped too.

[blue neen]

29. Blaming the victim. It seems that's what cowards do.

I'm sorry for what you went through.

[LiberalLoner]

36. Thank you. I wish the world wasn't such a crappy place.

[cstanleytech]

20. Ya know I have to wonder though if this could have been avoided if

our country was better at providing mental healthcare so as to maybe treat people before they do something like this *sigh*

[Pelican]

23. How about we blame the asshole that did it...

... instead of looking to pawn the blame off onto society as a whole.

Fuck that guy....

[cstanleytech]

42. I didnt say he wasnt at fault pel, just wondering if things might have been different

there was decent mental healthcare in this country.

[laundry_queen]

24. sociopathy and narcissism are untreatable. nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

35. People get pissed if the govt knows your phone number

so how is every single ill person going to get found and treated?

[Yo_Mama]

40. Heh, they have to want to be cured

I think you are making a huge jump here, without any evidence for it. If the man were appalled at his desires, perhaps mental health personnel could help him not act on them. But he isn't appalled.

Unlike pure schizophrenia, many of these types have justifications of their acts built up in their heads. Do you happen to remember the person who posted on DU saying that the NAMBLA organization must be made up? Pedophiles commonly do not recognize that they are committing crimes. They think the rest of us are fucked up.

[msanthrope]

46. He isn't treatable. nt

[cstanleytech]

48. Not now of course. If the country had mental healthcare 40 or 50 years ago who knows

what doctors might have been able to figure out how to treat though.

[freshwest]

22. Some will sympathize with this scumbag:

All I can muster is the DU orchestra:



Sorry.

[jessie04]

32. He won't last long in prison.

They wait for child predators in prison.

I give him less than one year.

[BainsBane]

37. Insight into how rapists think

Obviously Castro is an extreme case, but it shows how rapists think they are entitled to use women as they like.

[nomorenomore08]

43. Fuck this piece of dogshit. I don't condone abuse of prisoners, but this fucker deserves

whatever happens to him in there!

[tavernier]

49. Oh boo hoo hoo

I wouldn't shed a tear if this creep got gang banged first day behind bars; and I always sort of wished someone had slit OJ's throat with a dull knife. I think victims and their families rarely see justice that compensates for truly hideous crimes.

[TBF]

51. Justice is different than revenge -

but yeah I hear what you're saying. I don't think anyone is going to lose any sleep over this guy. I'm still having a hard time coming to grips with what he did - hard to believe there are folks out there who can do this sort of thing.

[tavernier]

52. You're right.

I desire revenge on the behalf of the victims. Good thing that cooler heads rule; I would be like the queen in Wonderland: OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

[TBF]

53. I totally understand -

in this case I pretty much agree.