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| Jaycee Dugard |
09/22/2011
(NewsCore) - Jaycee Dugard filed a lawsuit against the US government Thursday for what she said was its failure to monitor the paroled sex offender who kidnapped, raped and imprisoned her for 18 years.
The complaint, filed in federal court in San Francisco, says the government's oversight of convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido was so lacking that the "gross neglect borders on virtual complicity."
Garrido, 60, was sentenced to 431 years in prison in April for the rape and kidnapping of Dugard, who was 11-years-old when he grabbed her from a bus stop near her home in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
His wife, Nancy Garrido (Video), 55, was sentenced to 36 years to life in prison for sexual assault and kidnapping
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| Garrido Backyard Encampment |
Dugard's lawyers said federal authorities "failed on numerous occasions" from December 1988 to March 1999 to properly monitor Garrido, who had been convicted in 1977 of raping and kidnapping a 25-year-old woman.
He was on parole and under federal supervision when he kidnapped Dugard in 1991.
The complaint alleges that Garrido repeatedly violated the conditions of his parole, including testing positive for drug and alcohol use.
Authorities also ignored reports of sexual misconduct and failed to properly check on Garrido, visiting his residence less than a dozen times in ten years, the complaint alleges. For the final three years of his federal parole, from 1996 to 1999, no investigator went to his home at all, the complaint said.
After 1999, California was responsible for monitoring Garrido. Still, it took 10 more years until authorities found Dugard.
Dugard's lawyers said she is not seeking a specific sum for damages, but rather will trust the judge to decide compensation. Any money collected from this complaint would be put toward her foundation, attorney Dale Kinsella said.
Last year, California paid Dugard and her two children $20 million in damages.
US Department of Justice spokesman Charles Miller said government attorneys will review the complaint and "make a determination about how we will ultimately respond in court."
The horrific details of Dugard's captivity were released in testimony to a grand jury. Dugard told the jury her kidnapper forced her to have extended periods of sex with him -- often on camera – with Garrido telling her she was helping with his "sex problem."
Dugard, who was hit with a stun gun when she was kidnapped, told the grand jury,"I was very scared," she said. "I didn't know why he was doing this. I just wanted to go home."
Dugard said Phillip Garrido continued to carry his stun gun the months after her kidnapping.
When asked by the grand jury why she never tried to escape, Dugard said, "Well, in the beginning I was scared. I was afraid of I guess what he would do, Phillip."
Dugard, now 31, said Phillip and Nancy Garrido "stole my life."
