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Daughter of Cleveland suspect Ariel Castro: He preyed on my friends

Suspect Ariel Castro stands during his arraignment last week in Cleveland.
(Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images)
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One of the daughters of the man accused of holding three women prisoner for about a decade in Cleveland says her father preyed on her friends.

Two of the women held prisoner went to school with two daughters of Ariel Castro, the former school bus driver charged with kidnapping and rape in the case, according to the suspect’s daughter Emily. She spoke in a jailhouse interview with a private investigator, Chris Giannini; ABC News said Thursday it had obtained a recording of the interview.

“It couldn’t be coincidence,” said Emily Castro, now serving a 25-year prison sentence for stabbing her daughter in 2011.

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The two Castro daughters, Emily and Arlene, were friendly with Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry, two of the women police say were kidnapped and held in the house at 2207 Seymour Ave., owned by Ariel Castro, 52. Berry lived near the Castro girls, who were living with their mother and stepfather, Emily said.

Arlene Castro was the last to see DeJesus before she disappeared in 2004, police have already said.

Emily Castro said she was bothered that her father allegedly used her and her sister to look for victims on their street where they lived and played.

“He would come to his own kids’ neighborhood, not his own. I’m not saying he should have done it [at] all. I’m saying he didn’t consider anything about us being his kids. He didn’t consider that he’s not only doing [kidnapping children] but he’s hurting us,” Castro said, according to ABC News.

Ariel Castro is also charged with kidnapping Michelle Knight in 2003 and raping her. He faces a fourth kidnapping charge for holding the 6-year-old girl he fathered with Berry.

Castro is expected to face more criminal counts -- some of which could include the death penalty -- when formal charges are brought by the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office.

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The three women were held for about a decade until Berry broke through a screen door on May 6. With the help of neighbors, she escaped and called police who freed the women and the child.

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