Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man accused of abducting three women and torturing them during a decade of captivity, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 329 criminal counts, including kidnapping and rape, NBC News reported.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, the three women Castro abducted, escaped on May 6 after Berry through a storm door, screaming for help while Castro was out of the house. Other charges in the indictment include rape, gross sexual imposition and assault are also included.
Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said the indictment only covers August 2002 to February 2007. McGinty said that he make seek the death penalty against Castro, who was held last month on $8 million bond. Castro's two brothers were arrested with him, but were later cleared of involvement in the kidnappings. They were released.
The indictment against Castro alleges he repeatedly restrained the women, oft-times chaining them to a pole in a basement, to a bedroom heater or inside a van. It says one of the women tried to escape and he assaulted her with a vacuum cord around her neck.
Castro, 52, did not speak during the arraignment, which lasted less than a minute. He stood motionless, dressed in an orange prison outfit, and looked toward the floor as the plea was entered.
The next hearing is slated for June 19.
