All three women were imprisoned at Castro's home until , when Berry successfully escaped with her six-year-old daughter, to whom she had given birth while captive, and contacted the police. Castro was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. He was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 1, years in prison without the possibility of parole. The family first lived in Reading, Pennsylvania , before settling in Cleveland , Ohio, where Castro's father and several other family members were living.
Castro was sexually and physically abused throughout his childhood. He was molested starting at the age of five by a neighbor in Puerto Rico and was also raped by an uncle.
His mother had physically abused him by striking him with "belts, sticks and an open hand. Castro met his girlfriend, Grimilda Figueroa, when his family moved into a house across the street from hers in the s.
Castro and Figueroa lived with both sets of their parents until they moved into their own home at Seymour Avenue, located in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] [ 23 ] in According to Figueroa's sister, Elida Caraballo, she said that "all hell started breaking loose" after the couple moved into their new home.
Caraballo claimed that Castro beat Figueroa, breaking her nose, ribs, and arms and causing a blood clot on her brain that resulted in an inoperable tumor. Police assisted in the move and detained Castro, but they did not press charges. Figueroa filed charges in in Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court, which accused Castro of inflicting multiple severe injuries on her and of "frequently" abducting their daughters.
