Ariel Castro Allegedly Kept Sexually Abused Kidnap Victims In 'Chains And Ropes'

The three kidnapped women who endured a decade inside a rundown Cleveland home were bound by ropes and chains and rarely let outside, according to Cleveland's police chief.

"We have confirmation that they were bound and there was chains and ropes in the home," Police Chief Michael McGrath said Wednesday morning on the "Today" show. He also said they were "very rarely" permitted in suspect Ariel Castro's backyard.

McGrath provided few other details about how long the women were restrained, saying, "We'll have a better feel for that question once the interviews with the victims is completed later today."

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Other media reports included gut-wrenching details about how the women -- Michelle Knight, 32, Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23 -- were treated.

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WKYC reported that the kidnap victims were repeatedly raped by their captors and were beaten savagely when they became pregnant.

According to Fox News, police interviews with Knight raised the possibility of a fourth victim, another girl imprisoned in the house roughly 10 years ago. She disappeared.

Law enforcement officers were at the dilapidated home on Cleveland's west side Tuesday, searching for evidence.

The sexual abuse among the three known victims resulted in as many as five pregnancies, according to WKYC, but the babies didn't survive the beatings.

One of the women allegedly suffered three miscarriages, said the New York Post, which also reported that Knight might have hearing loss from the beatings.

A 6-year-old girl was rescued on Monday from the now infamous home and Berry has said the child is her daughter, WEWS reported.

It's assumed that the father is Ariel Castro or one of his brothers, who are in police custody. They were held on suspicion of rape and kidnapping, USA Today reported.

Formal charges against Ariel Castro, 52, Pedro Castro, 54, and Onil Castro, 50, are expected to be filed soon.

A neighbor told USA Today that he called police after other neighbors reported seeing naked women on dog leashes crawling in Castro's backyard.

Others reported calling police after seeing disturbing things at Castro's home. A woman reported seeing a naked woman in Castro's backyard and a man said his sister heard noise from the house, then saw a woman holding up a baby near a window covered by wooden planks.

Neighbors said that several times police showed up at the house, but never went inside. On other occasions, police allegedly didn't investigate the calls.

Cleveland police officials have said they have no record of calls about criminal activity at Castro's home. They acknowledge that Castro once called about a fight on the street and that officers visited his home while investigating reports that he left a child unattended on the school bus he drove. He was fired from his job as a school bus driver last year.