When kidnapper and registered sex offender Phillip Garrido and wife Nancy nevertheless have not gone to trial, it was reported by CNN that Jaycee Lee Dugard and her two teenage daughters are the recipients of a $ 20 million settlement from their case against the California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The lawsuit stemmed from Jaycee Dugard’s claim that parole agents were in dereliction of their duties when they failed to investigate Phillip Garrido’s residence more thoroughly, which would have uncovered the imprisonment of both herself and her young daughters in Garrido’s backyard. The bill appropriating the unprecedented $ 20 million Dugard settlement went right through with a 30-1 vote within the California Senate and 62-0 within the California Assembly.
Jaycee Lee Dugard disappeared for 18 years
No amount of money can give the now 30-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard and her family back years that were lost when she lived in Phillip Garrido’s makeshift backyard prison. But the $ 20 million Dugard settlement will enable Jaycee Dugard to purchase a home, pay for her children’s education and obtain as much therapy as is necessary, among many other things. If nothing else, possibly the scrutiny to the California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s methods will prevent else from going through a comparable ordeal. According to department’s report, “While it is true that Garrido’s California parole was never officially violated … the department failed to properly supervise Garrido and missed numerous opportunities to discover his victims.”
State officials really thought they had a case against Dugard
When California State officials thought at one point that they might have had enough info on their side to contest Jaycee Lee Dugard’s claim, they ultimately ruled that it wasn’t worth bringing the case before a jury. Their case evidently would have hinged upon jurisdictional matters, reports CNN. However, the public relations nightmare for California would are disastrous. The state claimed that it was the responsibility of federal parole officers (rather than California State parole officers).
Find more data here:
CNN
cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/01/california.dugard/?hpt=T1
AP report on $ 20 million Dugard settlement:
youtube.com/watch?v=nr7xF52DMRU
