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Ohio: DNA Confirms Castro Is Girl's Father

Ohio: DNA Confirms Castro Is Girl's Father

Preliminary DNA tests have confirmed that a kidnap and rape suspect in Ohio is the father of a six-year-old girl rescued from his home along with her mother and two other women.

Attorney General Mike DeWine's office confirmed Ariel Castro's paternity in a news release on Friday.

Mr DeWine said a sample of Castro's DNA was taken on Thursday and forensic scientists worked through the night on the case.

The girl is the daughter of Amanda Berry, who authorities say was held for about a decade in Castro's house in Cleveland along with Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.

Castro is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. He is being held on \$8m (£5.2m) bond.

Mr DeWine said Castro's DNA profile was also compared to other profiles, but did not match any other Ohio cases. He said national results are pending through the FBI.

Prosecutors have said they may file murder charges against the 52-year-old, who is accused of terminating multiple pregnancies of his captives by force. The charges could carry the death penalty.

A police report obtained by The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland said Ms Berry gave birth to her daughter in an inflatable swimming pool.

The report said Castro forced Ms Knight to deliver the baby and threatened to kill her if the infant did not survive.

The baby stopped breathing, and Ms Knight resuscitated the child by breathing into her, according to the report.

Ms Knight, 32, also told police that she suffered at least five miscarriages after Castro starved her and hit her in the abdomen.

She was discharged from hospital on Friday, four days after her dramatic rescue.

A statement issued by MetroHealth Medical Centre on her behalf said she is in good spirits and grateful for the Cleveland Courage Fund created to aid the victims. The statement also asked that her privacy be respected.

Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were released from hospital earlier in the week and returned home to be reunited with their families.

Meanwhile, the FBI said Friday it did not recover any human remains in its search of the house. Agency spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said agents took more than 200 items from the home, but declined to discuss what was found.

Investigators say the women - lured into Castro's car at the ages of 14, 16 and 20 - endured lonely, dark lives inside a dingy home where they were repeatedly raped.

Cleveland media reported details of a note reportedly found by police in Castro's home in which he describes himself as a "sexual predator".

"They are here against their will because they made a mistake of getting in a car with a total stranger," said the note, which was apparently written in 2004 when he had already captured the first two women.

"I don't know why I kept looking for another. I already had 2 in my possession."

According to Scott Taylor, an investigative reporter for Cleveland's 19 Action News, Castro also "writes about wanting to kill himself and 'give all the money I saved to my victims'".