WHAT IS THE BREADTH OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE?
by Sharon Rondeau
(May 12, 2013) — Last Monday, three women were rescued from captivity in a run-down house in Cleveland, OH after having been kidnapped by serial sexual predator Ariel Castro between nine and 11 years ago.
The eldest victim, Michelle Knight, was already a mother herself when she was kidnapped in 2002. Knight was reportedly assaulted as a teenager and conceived a child. Rather than having an abortion, she chose to carry the child and gave birth to a son named “Joey” who is now 13.
Joey was placed in the custody of child protective services because either the mother’s or Michelle’s boyfriend allegedly abused him. Knight hopes to meet with Joey at some point now that she is free from captivity.
Knight, who might have had a learning disability or mental impairment, appears to be the most severely abused of the women.
Castro reportedly inflicted both physical and psychological torture by giving the appearance that he had left the house, then waiting to see if they attempted to escape, after which he would assault them. Castro had reportedly abused his wife and later admitted in a note to being a sex offender.
Fox News psychiatric consultant Dr. Keith Ablow believes that Castro and his brothers were abused as children and that often, such abuse begins “three or four” generations prior.
Knight’s case was the least-publicized of the three abductions, all of which occurred in a roughly five-block area. Her twin brother reportedly did not know that she had been missing for 11 years. Her mother moved to Florida about 18 months ago and has a ten-year-old daughter who Michelle has never met.
After being charged with kidnapping and sexual assault of the women, the prosecutor may seek the death penalty for Castro’s alleged physical abuse of Knight, which caused at least five unborn children to be spontaneously aborted. Ohio statute forbids the deliberate killing of a fetus. The law reads, in part:
(A) No person shall purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the death of another or the unlawful termination of another’s pregnancy.
(B) No person shall purposely cause the death of another or the unlawful termination of another’s pregnancy while committing or attempting to commit, or while fleeing immediately after committing or attempting to commit, kidnapping, rape, aggravated arson, arson, aggravated robbery, robbery, aggravated burglary, burglary, trespass in a habitation when a person is present or likely to be present, terrorism, or escape.
Other states such as Colorado do not consider an unborn child to be a person.
Since 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade has allowed the killing of fetuses up to the last trimester of pregnancy, although several states including Arkansas and North Dakota have recently passed laws to restrict abortions. Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell has been accused of murder after terminating the pregnancies of an unknown number women by “legal” means, then killing viable babies who were breathing or moving on their own.
On Saturday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stated to a sold-out audience at the University of Chicago Law School that in Roe or any similar case, “the court should have steered away from a sweeping legalization of abortion.”
The evidence against Castro will be presented to a grand jury for review.
While undergoing extreme trauma at the hands of her abductor, Knight reportedly helped to birth and sustain the life of a now-six-year-old girl born to another of Castro’s captives, Amanda Berry. Without any apparent medical training, Knight administered CPR when the child stopped breathing under threat from Castro that if the child died, he would kill Berry.
Knight was brutalized so badly that she will require reconstructive facial surgery and has lost her hearing in one ear. She does not have the supportive family structure which the other two women appear to have and is reportedly staying with the DeJesus family, whose daughter was among the victims.
On Monday, Berry was able to alert a passing neighbor of her captivity by waving her arm outside of an exterior portal after Castro apparently forgot to lock an inside door.
Jaycee Dugard, rescued in 2009 from 18 years in captivity after she was taken at the age of 11 by a federal parolee and sex offender, gave birth to two children while imprisoned in her captor’s back yard whom she described in an interview as “beautiful.”
If these women, whose youth was stolen from them by abusers of the worst kind, can give birth, nurture and love their offspring, what does that say about the potential of all mothers of this world?
But for women to be strong mothers, strong fathers are needed. Statistics show that the absence of fathers has had a significant impact on children as they are growing up.
The mother of Gina DeJesus, the third young woman abducted by Castro, said that today is “the best Mother’s Day I could ever have.”
A fund has been established to assist the three women and Berry’s young daughter to meet medical, psychological, educational, housing and social needs as they recover from their ordeal. One hundred percent of the monies collected will go to the victims and their families. As of Saturday, approximately $50,000 had been raised.
Prayer vigils and celebrations have been held to commemorate the women’s release from captivity. A special celebration was held for Michelle, as she has been estranged from her family, did not have a homecoming, and may require more time to begin rebuilding her life in addition to the reconstructive surgery.
“As is the mother, so is her daughter” – Ezekiel 16:44