Jaycee Dugard Sues Feds for 'Gross Neglect' in Kidnap Case

Parole officials failed to keep track of Phillip Garrido, she says
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 22, 2011 7:24 PM CDT
Kidnap Victim Jaycee Dugard Sues US Government for Gross Neglect in Supervision of Phillip Garrido
A 2009 family photo of Jaycee Lee Dugard.   (AP Photo/Carl Probyn, File)

Jaycee Dugard is suing the federal government for failing to keep track of Phillip Garrido, the parolee who held her captive for 18 years and fathered two children by her, reports CNN. Her complaint states that the Justice Department's "gross neglect borders on virtual complicity," notes the Los Angeles Times. The suit doesn't specify a damage amount and says any funds would go to the nonprofit JAYC Foundation, which helps families of abducted children.

"Had federal parole authorities demonstrated a modicum of vigilance-–indeed, had they simply performed their duties and obligations as required by federal law and internal policies, Jaycee and her daughters would not have been forced to endure a virtual lifetime of physical and mental abuse from a detonated ‘time bomb,'" the complaint reads. Dugard previously got a $20 million settlement from the state of California. (More Jaycee Dugard stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X