Phillip Garrido, 58, and his wife Nancy Garrido, 54, are being charged with the kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991, when the girl was only 11 years old.
According to a 16 page charge sheet, filed in California, by U.S. prosecutors, both husband and wife were involved in the kidnapping and raping of Dugard ( whom they renamed as ‘Allissa’), was held for 18 years as a sex slave in a pair of beat-up sheds.
Nancy and Philip Garrido face 29 felony counts, including kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment, dating from 10th June 1991 to the day Dugard 29, reappeared in public on 26th August 2009. Garrido admitted to being the father of Dugard’s two fair–haired children, aged 11 and 15.
At first both Garridos denied all charges against them, but it appears as if the real villian was Nancy Garrido, who stood and watched her husband father Dugard’s two children.
The authorities appear to be dealing with ‘Stockholm Syndrome,’ where the victim bonds with the captor. The police have described it as a ‘backyard inside a backyard’, with only rudimentary bathroom facilities. The victim and her children were isolated from all outside contact, neither attending school, nor having been seen by a doctor. Duggard had access to the business phone and had an email account. She was claimed to be the ‘creative force’ behind Garrido’s print shop.
Garrido was described by his neighbours as a religious fundamentalist, who wanted to open up his own church. They were shocked that the prison could go unnoticed for so long.
Police in Contra Costa County admitted on Friday that they had received a tip but failed to follow it up properly. Neighbours had called 911 on November 30, 2006, to warn that children were living in Garrido’s home and that people appeared to be housed in the backyard.
Questions are now being asked how Garrido, a registered sex offender, who was sentenced for 50 years for kdinapping and raping a 25 year-old woman in California Garrido was granted parole in 1988, after serving only a relatively short time of his sentence. Garrido was diagnosed as a sexual deviant and chronic drug abuser. The Garridos met and married while Phillip was serving a prison term.
“What’s kept me busy the last several years is, I’ve completely turned my life around, and you’re going to find the most powerful story coming from the witness, the victim - you wait,” Garrido said.
Police are investigating the serial killings of 10 prostitutes in the 1990s, close to where Phillip Garrido lived and worked.
Dugard was kidnapped by two occupants in a car, on June 10, 1991 right in front of her horrified stepfather, Carl Probyn, who gave chase on a bicycle. He failed to stop the abduction and was a longtime suspect.
