TODAY's Savannah Guthrie Speaks with Son of Ohio Kidnapper

NBC's Savannah Guthrie sat down with Anthony Castro, son of Ohio kidnapper, Ariel Castro, in an exclusive live television interview this morning on TODAY. Below is a transcript of the interview.

Watch the segment here.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And now to the Cleveland kidnapping case that has made headlines around the world. One of the victims, Amanda Berry, made her first public appearance at a concert there on Saturday night that-- one day after Ariel Castro agreed to a plea deal that will put him behind bars for life without parole plus one thousand years. His son, Anthony Castro, is with us now exclusively. Anthony, good morning. It's good to see you.

ANTHONY CASTRO (Ariel Castro's Son): Good morning, Savannah.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Let's start right there. What do you think of the sentence your father got? Did he get what he deserved?

ANTHONY CASTRO: I think it's the best possible sentence. I think that if he really can't control his impulses and he really doesn't have any value for human life the way this case has shown, then behind bars is where he belongs for the rest of his life.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: The prosecutors did consider the death penalty in this case. Would you have been okay with that punishment?

ANTHONY CASTRO: It would have been tough to accept just because a death penalty cases are-- you end up in court a lot and so they-- they come back a lot more often. I think this way is a lot better because, you know, he has-- that he has put himself away and he will be away for the rest of his life.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Would you ever visit him in jail?

ANTHONY CASTRO: Right now, I can't see any scenario where I would go visit him. I-- you know, he has been lying to his family for the past ten to eleven years at every possible turn. I have no-- no trust in him. I can't-- I can't see myself going to visit him and-- and giving him the opportunity to face me and lie to me again.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Let me take you back to that day in May when the world found out that he had been keeping these three women captive for a period of more than ten years. What was your initial reaction?

ANTHONY CASTRO: Well, I first found out that the girls had been found. Miche-- I'm sorry, Gina and Amanda had been found. And it wasn't until a little bit later that details started to come in. So my first feeling was, you know, overwhelming joy because this was a case where, you know, it-- it captivated our city for-- for so long. And, you know, it was shortly thereafter where my father's name and-- and picture started to come out and, you know, it really became real to me when the 911 call started to be played and I heard Amanda Berry say his name and that was the-- the toughest moment and that's when it became real.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Were you shocked?

ANTHONY CASTRO: I was shocked because of the magnitude of such a crime. I-- I don't think I could imagine anyone doing that, let alone to find out it was, you know, my own flesh and blood, my father. However, you know, I did grow up in a house with a lot of fear and a lot of violence. And so the fact that this was a-- a violent case, no, it didn't surprise me.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Because you have talked about that. Grow-- growing up, you were abused. Your mom was terribly abused according to you-

ANTHONY CASTRO: Yes.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: --and your siblings. Tell me about what it was like to live under his roof?

ANTHONY CASTRO: Incredibly strict. He had a temper. He wasn't, you know, a monster twenty-four-seven, but if you crossed him, you know, there would be consequences. And those, you know, more often than not would be physical-- consequences. You know, I-- I remember crying myself to sleep when I was a kid because I was-- you know, my legs were covered in-- in welts from belts, you know, and seeing my mom getting-- getting beat up in-- in-- in our own home and no one should ever have to see their mom, you know, crumpled up in a corner in the floor the way I did so many times.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: So many people have wondered whether anyone in the family could possibly have known. Had you been inside that house on Seymour Avenue during the time period when we now know these three women were being held?

ANTHONY CASTRO: Yes, I had been there a few times. More-- more often than not, on the outside only, but when I did go in-- in the house, I would always enter through the back door. That's where my father would flag me in and we would talk in the kitchen. We would be there fifteen, twenty minutes.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Did you ever see any signs that in retrospect you wonder about? I mean, did he have locks on the doors, that kind of thing?

ANTHONY CASTRO: Well, the locks on the doors weren't unusual. Even when we live there, there were locks on the basement door, the attic door. The garage was locked. Windows were nailed shut.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: When you were a child-

ANTHONY CASTRO: Yes.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: --there were places you just couldn't go.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Absolutely.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: When you think about what these women have gone through, does it haunt you?

ANTHONY CASTRO: It does. It's been about a little less than three months since we learned about all of this and it's been a three-month nightmare. You know, obviously, nowhere-- nothing to compare to what the girls went through, but, you know, this has been incredibly hard.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Do you think about the fact that this is your father, this is your flesh and blood, is it hard to handle being related to someone who is capable of such cruelty?

ANTHONY CASTRO: Absolutely. And-- and what's horrifying is, you know, I have the same first and last name. I look at the-- look in the mirror and, you know, I see the resemblance and I think about what he did and how horrible it was and I just can't help sometimes just being overcome with that.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Your mom would have turned fifty tomorrow.

ANTHONY CASTRO: Yes.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: In some ways, do you think about this as justice for her and what she went through, the fact that he will now spend the rest of his life in prison?

ANTHONY CASTRO: I do. I really do. I think that she will be there. The first morning, he wakes up in prison, you know, and the sun shines down, that's going to be her justice.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: It wasn't easy for you to come out and speak publicly, to show your face. Why did you want to? What message would you want to send?

ANTHONY CASTRO: I really wanted to thank the people that were the closest to me and helped me through this. You know, my best friends and my co-workers have been incredibly understanding and have been there for me. And I really want to thank them for that. And I also want to just express how happy I am that because of all of this my father will never be able to hurt anyone ever again.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And if you had anything to say to him, what would it be?

ANTHONY CASTRO: I have nothing to say to him.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Anthony Castro, thank you for being here this morning. We appreciate it.
ANTHONY CASTRO: Thank you.

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