The son of Ariel Castro, who pleaded guilty last week to 937 counts related to the kidnapping of three Cleveland women, told the Today show Monday morning that "behind bars is where [Castro] belongs for the rest of his life."
Anthony Castro also spoke of the violence he witnessed growing up, and said while he was shocked when his father was linked to the kidnapping and decade-long imprisonment of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, the fact that it was a violent case didn't surprise him.
"I did grow up in a house with a lot of fear and a lot of violence," Anthony said. "He had a temper. He wasn't a monster 24/7, but if you crossed him, there would be consequences. And those were, more often than not, physical consequences."
The elder Castro made a point in court on Friday to distance himself from the "violent" label put on him. When the judge asked Castro to agree that he's a sexually violent predator, Castro said "the violent part I don't agree on."
Anthony said he had been inside his father's Cleveland home a few times while the three women were imprisoned there but that he never stayed longer than 15 or 20 minutes.
When asked if he noticed anything strange about the house, he said: "The locks on the doors weren't unusual. Even when we lived there, there were locks on the basement door, attic door." Anthony said there were always places he wasn't allowed to go.
The video of the interview is embedded below:
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