Twenty years after Phillip Garrido kidnapped 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard, he’s finally been sentenced for his crimes. Today Phillip was given 431 years to life for holding Dugard captive for 18 years, repeatedly raping her, and fathering two children with her. His wife Nancy was sentenced to 36 years to life for her role in the crime.
CNN reports that Phillip pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and 13 counts of sexual assault, and Nancy pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of rape by force. Both have waived their right to an appeal.
Nancy’s sentence was part of a plea deal, which was used to spare Dugard and her children from having to testify in a trial, according to CBS News. Dugard and her children didn’t appear in court today, but she had her mother, Terry Probyn, read this statement:
“I chose not to be here today because I refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence … Phillip Garrido, you are wrong. I could never say that to you before, but I have the freedom now and I am saying you are a liar and all of your so-called theories are wrong. Everything you have ever done to me has been wrong and someday I hope you can see that.
What you and Nancy did was reprehensible. You always justified everything to suit yourself but the reality is and always has been that to make someone else suffer for your inability to control yourself and for you, Nancy, to facilitate his behavior and trick young girls for his pleasure is evil. There is no God in the universe that would condone your actions.
To you, Phillip, I say that I have always been a thing for your own amusement. I hated every second of every day of 18 years because of you and the sexual perversion you forced on me. To you, Nancy, I have nothing to say.
Both of you can save your apologies and empty words. For all the crimes you have both committed I hope you have as many sleepless nights as I did. Yes, as I think of all of those years I am angry because you stole my life and that of my family. Thankfully I am doing well now and no longer live in a nightmare. I have wonderful friends and family around me. Something you can never take from me again. You do not matter any more.
NPR reports Probyn added that Dugard’s daughters, who are not 16 and 13, “know what you did to their mother. They realize your backyard was a prison and understand your filthy, despicable secret. They are aware that they have been deceived and I am here to tell you that there is no love lost.”
Though the Garridos’ case is over now, the legal battle continues over whether or not to make the court documents public. After the sentencing, the judge heard arguments from media groups, which want to have grand jury transcripts and other documents unsealed. Both the prosecution and the defense say that they should remain private, but lawyers representing the media are using a statement a publisher made about her upcoming memoir against her, saying the book invalidates the “argument that privacy rights can trump the press and public’s right of access to the grand jury transcript.” Apparently by revealing the parts of her story she’s comfortable sharing, she’s waiving her right to not have every detail of her horrifying ordeal discussed publicly.
Phillip, Nancy Garrido Sentenced In Jaycee Dugard Kidnapping [CNN]
Nancy And Phillip Garrido Sentenced For Jaycee Lee Dugard Kidnapping [CBS News]
Man Who Kidnapped CA Girl To Spend Life In Prison [NPR]
Fate Of Trial Transcripts Awaits Garrido Sentencing [RGJ]
Earlier: Phillip & Nancy Garrido Plead Guilty To Jaycee Dugard Kidnapping
Jaycee Dugard To Publish Memoir This Summer