Prosecutors and lawyers for Ariel Castro have reached a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty in the Ohio kidnapping case. When asked if he understood he would never be released from prison, Castro said: "I do understand that, your honour."

He added "I knew I was pretty much going to get the book thrown at me."

The deal comes more than a month after a statement issued on behalf of the women said they were "hopeful for a just and prompt resolution" and had "great faith in the prosecutor's office and the court".

Castro, 53, had been scheduled for trial on August 5th on a 977-count indictment.

The indictment included two counts of aggravated murder related to accusations that he punched and starved one woman until she miscarried.

Amanda Berry, Gina deJesus & Michelle Knight pictured recently

The former school bus driver also was charged with hundreds of counts of kidnapping and rape, plus assault and other counts.

He was accused of repeatedly restraining the women, sometimes chaining them to a pole in a basement, to a bedroom heater or inside a van.

The charges alleged Castro assaulted one woman with a vacuum cord around her neck when she tried to escape.

The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20-years-old.

Each said they had accepted a ride from Castro, who remained friends with the family of one of the women and even attended vigils over the years marking her disappearance.

The women escaped Castro's house on May 6th when one of them kicked out part of a door and called to neighbours for help. Castro was arrested within hours and has remained behind bars.

News that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight had been found alive electrified the Cleveland area, where two of them were household names after years of searches, publicity and vigils.

Castro fathered a 6-year-old daughter with Miss Berry, authorities said.

They allege that on the day the child was born, Christmas 2006, Castro raped one of the other women, who had helped deliver the baby.

Miss Berry told authorities that she, her child and the other women never saw a doctor during their captivity.

Miss Knight said her 5 pregnancies ended after Castro starved and repeatedly punched her.

The three women recently appeared in an online video thanking the public for its support. They otherwise have sought to stay out of sight and have appealed for privacy.