Jaycee Dugard Lied, Protected Alleged Abductor

Under questioning by a parole agent, Jaycee Dugard initially became indignant, lied about her identity and protected the man who allegedly abducted her 18 years earlier, says a new government report. The 45-page report by California's Inspector General also details how authorities failed earlier opportunities to arrest Phillip and Nancy Garrido for the 1991 abduction of Dugard, and to remove from the Garridos' house Dugard and the two daughters Garrido fathered with her, who are now 15 and 11. The report says Jaycee initially defended Garrido and refused to show any identification as parole officers questioned them on Aug. 26. She only told the truth after Garrido finally admitted to kidnapping Dugard and fathering her children, the report says. Jaycee told the parole officer her name was Alyssa, that she was the mother of Angel and Starlet even though she was only 29, and that she was "aware that Garrido had taken the girls to UC Berkeley (to apply for a permit to host a religious event), and that he was a sex offender who was on parole for kidnapping and raping a woman," the report says. "She added that Garrido was a changed man and a great person who was good with her kids," the report says. "Alyssa subsequently stated that she didn't want to provide any additional information and that she might need a lawyer." After the parole agent separated Garrido from the others, Garrido said that all three young women were "sisters and that the father was his brother, who lived nearby in Oakley, Calif." Separately, Jaycee "explained that she was from Minnesota and had been hiding for five years from an abusive husband," the report says. "She was terrified of being found, she said, and that was the reason she could not give the parole agent any information." ConfessionAfter several rounds of interviews that also involved Concord police, "Garrido admitted he was the father of the two girls ... and to kidnapping and raping Alyssa," the report says. It was only then that "Alyssa identified herself as Jaycee Dugard and confirmed that she had been kidnapped and raped by Garrido." (The Garridos have pleaded not guilty to 29 counts, including rape and kidnapping.) Dr. Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychiatrist at UCLA, suggests that Jaycee "was protecting Garrido out of fear, a distorted sense of loyalty, and a need to feel connected to the father of her children." Lieberman, who is not involved in the Dugard case, adds the young woman was probably also concerned about her daughters learning the truth about their father, and that she was probably embarrassed about never trying to return to her real family. The report also found that during the 10-year period in which the parole department supervised Garrido, officials failed to adequately classify and supervise him, failed to obtain key information from federal parole authorities, failed to properly supervise parole agents responsible for him, and failed to use GPS information. The report says parole agents ignored opportunities to determine that Garrido was violating the terms of his parole, missed opportunities to discover the existence of Garrido's three victims, failed to investigate clearly visible utility wires running from Garrido's house to the girls' concealed backyard compound, failed to investigate the presence of a 12-year-old female during a home visit, and failed to talk to neighbors or local public safety agencies.