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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Bail Set At $8 Million For Ariel Castro As More Details Emerge

Salomon Fuentes |
May 9, 2013 | 11:53 a.m. PDT

Executive Producer

Ariel Castro had bail set at $8 million at his arraignment (Associated Press)
Ariel Castro had bail set at $8 million at his arraignment (Associated Press)
The Cleveland man charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape, Ariel Castro, was arraigned in court Thursday morning, and bail was set at $8 million-- $2 million for each of the four victims, the judge said.

Castro, 52, was arrested Monday after Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, Michelle Knight, 32, and Berry's 6-year-old daughter escaped his home after being held captive for a decade. His brothers, Onil and Pedro, were also arrested, but have since been cleared in connection to the crimes.

The former bus driver was represented by a public attorney in court who later admitted the defendant would be unlikely to meet bail. 

As the arraignment was held, new details about Castro's past emerged including reports that he abused the mother of his three children and attempted to frame a former friend, Fernando Colon for child molestation.

From the Los Angeles Times:

 

Castro and Colon were linked by a romantic partner, Grimilda Figueroa. According to Colon, that led to bad blood and trumped-up allegations of child molestation against him.

In 2004, the FBI questioned Colon about Gina DeJesus, who had vanished April 2 of that year. Colon told The Times that he’d met the girl once; DeJesus was friends with Colon’s stepdaughter, Arlene – Castro's daughter.

 

Colon said that he tipped the FBI about Castro, but the FBI is stating they have no record of that claim.

Castro will be held at Cleveland jail medical unit under suicide watch, according to his attorney. A grand jury is set to look at the case and formally bring up charges against Castro.

For more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the Cleveland kidnappings, click here.

For the full LA Times story, click here.

Reach Executive Producer Salomon Fuentes here; Follow him on Twitter here.



 

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