One of the three women held captive in a Cleveland home for a decade made her first public appearance at a concert, just a day after her abductor plead guilty to charges of kidnapping and rape.
Amanda Berry show up at a Cleveland concert Saturday night. She walked on stage with her family happily waving and cheering to the crowd. Wearing sunglasses, jeans and a black shirt, Berry smiled but never addressed the crowd. Rapper Nelly later called Berry back on stage, according to USA Today.
The day before, her abductor Ariel Castro, a former school bus driver, was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years in 937-count deal, according to the Associated Press.
In comments to a judge, Castro blamed a pornography addiction and mentioned being sexually abused as a child.
As part of the plea deal, Castor's home will be turned over to the county officials and demolished.
Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight disappeared between 2002 and 2004. They escaped in May when Berry knocked out part of a door and called to neighbors for help. According to reports, a paternity test proved Castro fathered a 6-year-old daughter. Knight said that each of her five pregnancies ended after Castro starved and repeatedly punched her.
Since their release, the women have carefully avoided speaking out publicly except to thank the community and to request continuing privacy. The three women made their first spoken statements through a video release three weeks ago by a crisis-management public relations firm based in Cleveland.
Shane French, talk radio show host for Rover's Morning Glory on WMMS in Cleveland told the Associated Press he invited Berry to RoverFest during an on-air segment a few weeks ago, but did not know she was listening in and would take him up on his offer.
"I just said that she had 10 years of partying to make up for and she should come," French said.
