He
attacked the victim with full knowledge that she had been
brutalized in an earlier violent crime.
n
He coerced the victim into silence for several days —
eliminating some evidence — by threatening to kill her children.
n
The defendant was on supervised probation when the crime
occurred in February. He had previously been convicted of
assaulting his children’s mother.
“This is a case of cruelty that goes far
beyond what happened to one victim,” said Deputy Prosecutor
Carrie Rasmussen.
“There are children in this community who
will suffer if this crime results in a lack of people wanting to
be foster parents.”
In July, Castro was found guilty of the
latest assault by Judge Paul Crowley in a bench trial. Even at
the Aug. 2 sentencing, he protested the charges brought against
him.
Castro made the following statement through
an interpreter: “What I would like to say is that I am innocent
and everything that I’ve been accused of is lies, it’s just been
made up.”
Sheriff Detective Gerry Tiffany tied Castro
to the crime scene by five stars that had been carved into the
victim’s arm.
During questioning, the law enforcement
official noted the same star pattern on a Honduras flag owned by
Castro. In addition, the victim recognized him and her injuries
were consistent with the attack that she described.
Rasmussen said the victim was jumped after
going outside alone on a winter evening. She said the cuts
inflicted on the woman are not expected to leave permanent
scars. She said those marks, like the bruising from
strangulation on her neck and lacerations to her back, will fade
over time.
However, Rasmussen said the psychological
scars caused by two separate violent encounters will be much
harder for the victim to overcome.
“She had invited him into her home so his
children could have some sense of a family,” said Rasmussen.
“For one year she gave the defendant’s children a sense of
safety and security and they flourished in her care.”
She said it is very uncommon for foster
parents to be faced with an encounter like this. She said
another unusual aspect of the case is that Castro and his
girlfriend had full custody of the children when he committed
the assault.
According to reports, the Castro family was
facing eviction from American Village Apartments, which were
being converted to condominiums.
Rasmussen is unsure if that stress made the
defendant fear that his children might once again be taken away.
She also wonders why he would lash out at the
woman who had shown kindness to him and his family.
“There was physical evidence in this case but I really
believe it was ultimately decided on one person’s word against
another’s,” she said.
