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Parole agents ‘did not recognise’ Jaycee Dugard
Woman held prisoner for 20 years by convicted rapist was let down by authorities
US parole agents spoke to - but did not recognise - Jaycee Dugard, the woman held captive by a paroled rapist for 18 years in California. The agents failed to follow up on a meeting with the missing girl and did not attempt to investigate her identity, according to a newly-publicised report by the state attorney's office.
Dugard was kidnapped by Phillip Garrido in 1991 when she was 11, and later bore two children by him. Her story evoking that of Elisabeth Fritzl, kept in a home-made dungeon by her Austrian father Josef, Dugard finally surfaced last August after two decades in a tent in the backyard of Garrido's house in the San Francisco Bay-area city of Antioch.
At the time he abducted Dugard, Garrido had already served 11 years in prison for a rape and kidnap in Nevada. Released on parole in 1988, he wore an electronic tag and had to make regular contact with parole officers. Despite being under this supervision, he was somehow able to kidnap and hold captive Jaycee Dugard for almost two decades, fathering two daughters by her.
It was announced last week that the state of California will pay $20m compensation to the Dugard family for failing to properly supervise Garrido. And the report – sent to California lawmakers as they prepared to vote on the compensation – makes clear that the allegation that parole agents actually encountered Jaycee Dugard was a major factor in that decision.
The California attorney general's spokeswoman Christine Gasparac said the new allegation had been made by Dugard during meetings between her legal team and the state, but said she could not give any further details – or a date - of the encounter between Dugard and parole officers.
It was already public knowledge that a parole officer had encountered a 12-year-old girl at Garrido's home in 2008 but accepted his explanation that she was his niece.
It is thought Californian authorities decided on the huge settlement because they feared the family might win an even greater payout if the case came to court. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he will sign the settlement.
The report notes that the average payment to victims is $2m, but said the $20m for Dugard was justified by "uniquely tragic circumstances". It estimates therapy alone could cost $7m for Dugard and her daughters, while education will be another $450,000 – none of the three received any schooling while they were imprisoned. ·
