Elias Acevedo, neighbour of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, charged with murder and rape

Police say the man has confessed to two murders

Elias Acevedo, a convicted sex offender and neighbour of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, is accused of murdering two women and raping others, dating back to 1994 (Cuyahoga County Jail, Ohio)

A man who lived on the same street as the Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro has been charged with the murders of two women and the rape of others, including two children.

The Huffington Post reports that law enforcement officials re-examined cases of other missing women in the Cleveland area following the Ariel Castro kidnappings, obtaining the filmed confessions from Elias Acevedo for two murders committed in the 1990s.

The 49-year-old was also charged on Thursday 17 October with hundreds of other charges including rape, gross sexual imposition and kidnapping.

Among them are charges related to the alleged kidnapping and rape of two girls, aged 8 and 11 at the time, according to Ohio-based news channel Newsnet5.

Acevedo is accused of killing 30-year-old Pamela Pemberton in 1994, three months before he is also alleged to have murdered Christina Adkins, an 18-year-old pregnant woman, local newspaper The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Ms Pemberton, a former neighbour to Acevedo, went missing after telling her family that she was going to meet a friend. Her body was found shortly after the slaying.

The newspaper also reports that Acevedo led police to a manhole where a body believed to be Adkins's was found.

The indictment document against Acevedo states that both murders were committed during the alleged rapes of both women.

Reuters reports that Acevedo was arrested in June after police questioned Castro's neighbours and found that Acevedo was a sex offender who had not reported his current address to the police.

In the same month Acevedo was charged with a rape allegedly committed in 1993 in the same area where Ms Pemberton's body was found the next year. Police said DNA evidence linked him to the offence.

Acevedo will appear in court today.