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Up Front - Kidnapped, sexually assaulted and forced into motherhood
Emily Plihal
for Smoky River Express
Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped 18 years ago.
She was abducted in broad daylight by Phillip Garrido, a registered sex offender, from the streets of her South Lake Tahoe, California town when she was 11 years old.
Garrido and his wife Nancy held Dugard captive in the backyard of their home. According to various sources there were sheds in the backyard used to house Dugard and her two children (conceived by Garrido and Dugard).
The Garrido’s had high fences around their property, blocking any possible view into their backyard and leaving the children and Dugard at the whim of their captors.
Dugard’s family frantically searched for her for 18 years, and after many police visits and interrogations, she was found alive in the control of her captors.
Dugard is the mother of two daughters, 11 and 15 years of age, both of whom were fathered by Garrido.
My top question is how were authorities not requesting a search warrant for the Garrido’s property? Many complaints had been made my individuals in the community.
With Garrido being a sex offender, wouldn’t the police be more concerned about the possibility of him holding a child somewhere on his property in Antioch, California?
One neighbour had even seen children playing in their backyard when a fence post loosened from the fence.
The final discovery was made when a campus police officer became concerned with the behaviour of the two children when Garrido brought them to a religious meeting he was conducting at the University of California in Berkeley.
Dugard was completely robbed of her childhood by a man who was previously convicted for similar acts. He had initially been sentenced to 50 years in prison but was released on parole after 10.
I continuously harp about stronger sentences being handed to individuals like Garrido.
Both Phillip and his wife Nancy have pleaded not guilty to rape, kidnapping and conspiracy charges.
Are you kidding me? Rape is obvious in this case! Her daughters are 11 and 15, meaning Jaycee was only 14 when she had her first child. Obviously she had conceived her child at 13, in my books that is RAPE!
How can they plead not guilty to kidnapping? Even if someone else took the child, which I highly doubt, they housed her in their backyard! She was never educated, she was never provided with health care, and she was never given the opportunity to have a real life. She was taken from her parents, robbed of her childhood and forced to conceive children!
I hope these people have the “book” thrown at them. Never have a chance of parole, never have the opportunity to see light again, preferably put them into solitary confinement for the first 10 years of their sentence.
How does Jaycee Dugard ever learn to cope with her abduction and the captivity? She will obviously be completely unsure of how to live a “normal” life and will be forced to learn to fend for her children in this fast-paced world.
Her children will have 15 and 11 years of catching up with children of their age group.
I wish the best of luck to Dugard and her family. May you find the will to survive and succeed. I am disgusted by Garrido, his wife, the authorities, and any individual who came across Dugard in her 18 years of captivity. Shame on you all.
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