Jaycee Dugard case: US kidnap couple handed long jail terms

Phillip Garrido sentenced to 431 years to life for kidnapping and raping Dugard and holding her captive for 18 years A convicted sex offender and his wife have been jailed for life for kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard when she was 11 and holding her captive for nearly 20 years. Phillip Garrido, 60, was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison by a California court after pleading guilty to kidnapping and 13 sexual assault charges, including six counts of rape and seven counts of committing lewd acts captured on video. El Dorado County district attorney Vern Pierson described Garrido as “a sexual predator who stole the childhood and innocence from an 11-year-old child”. Garrido’s wife Nancy, 55, who also pleaded guilty, was handed a 36-year sentence. Before the couple were sentenced in the court in Placerville, the victim’s mother, Terry Probyn, read out a statment by Dugard, now 31, in which she described her 18-year ordeal at the Garridos’ hands. “I chose not to be here today because I refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence,” Dugard wrote, addressing Phillip Garrido. “Everything you ever did to me was wrong, and I hope one day you will see that. “I hated every second of every day for 18 years. You stole my life and that of my family.” Following her kidnapping in South Lake Tahoe, California, in 1991, Dugard was confined to a hidden backyard compound which she later shared with two daughters fathered by Phillip Garrido. Dugard called Garrido a liar, and said what his wife did to her was evil. She said she hoped both of them would have as many sleepless nights as she had. “There is no God in the universe that would condone your actions,” Dugard said, addressing Nancy Garrido. Dugard, who has written a memoir set to be published next month, said she was doing well now, and told Phillip Garrido: “You do not matter any more.” The plea deal was designed, in part, to spare Dugard and her children from having to testify at a trial. Both Garridos have waived their right to appeal. Dugard was grabbed by Nancy Garrido from the street where her family lived and forced into a car driven by Phillip Garrido on 10 June 1991. The abduction took place as Dugard’s stepfather watched her walk to a school bus stop. The couple held Dugard prisoner at their home in Antioch for the next 18 years, four months and 16 days. She was initially locked in a backyard shed and then confined to a series of tents she would later share with the daughters fathered by Garrido and delivered by his wife. Dugard last year received a $20m (£12m) settlement from the state of California under which officials acknowledged repeated mistakes were made by parole agents responsible for monitoring Phillip Garrido. California has since increased monitoring of sex offenders. The case drew international attention after Dugard and her daughters were discovered in August 2009. Dugard has written a memoir, A Stolen Life, which will be released in July. Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnap United States David Batty guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 2, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.