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BLOCKED OUT

This Google Maps house was CENSORED after horrific crime was committed inside

GOOGLE MAPS Street View helps people see locations all over the world but sometimes you'll find a spot that has been purposefully blurred out.

One infamous example of this is a house from Cleveland, Ohio in the US.

This image is often used as an example of when Google Street View blurs out a location
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This image is often used as an example of when Google Street View blurs out a locationCredit: Google Earth
The house has since been demolished and looks like this
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The house has since been demolished and looks like thisCredit: Google

This censored house used to appear on the Google site as a blurred out block.

That's because it was the location of the infamous Ariel Castro kidnappings, which took place between 2002 and 2004 in Cleveland.

Three young women were kidnapped by Castro and held captive in his home at 2207 Seymour Avenue.

They remained imprisoned until May 2013.

Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus were all kidnapped, beaten, starved and sexually abused by Castro.

Berry eventually escaped and alerted the police.

Castro was jailed for life plus 1,000 years in prison, but hung himself just one month into his sentence.

Google refused to show the house online due to the shocking crimes that were committed there.

The image of his house still circulates the internet and people use it as a creepy example on Google Maps forums.

However, it has since been demolished along with the house next to it.

If you look on now you'll see the plot of land where the house and its neighbouring building used to be.

Google has a strict policy about what can be shown on Google Street View.

It says: "Google takes a number of steps to protect the privacy of individuals when Street View imagery is published to Google Maps.

"We have developed cutting-edge face and license plate blurring technology that is designed to blur identifiable faces and license plates within Google-contributed imagery in Street View.

"If you see that your face or license plate requires additional blurring, or if you would like us to blur your entire house, car, or body, submit a request using the ‘Report a problem’ tool."

Ariel Castro was sentenced to life in prison but took his own life after one month
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Ariel Castro was sentenced to life in prison but took his own life after one monthCredit: AP:Associated Press

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