February 27, 2010
WALNUT CREEK, California: The US kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard, her two daughters and her mother have each have filed claims against the state of California for damages from failures by parole agents to unearth the mystery of her 1991 kidnapping and years of captivity.
The claims, which generally precede lawsuits, were filed with the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. In the simple, two-page forms, Ms Dugard, her two girls and her mother, Terry Probyn, all cite ”various lapses by Corrections Department” and claim ”psychological, physical and emotional” damages, a spokesman for the board, Jon Myers, said.
They list no figure for damages, but ticked a box indicating they exceed $US25,000 ($28,000). State law requires personal injury compensation claims to be filed within six months of an ”incident”.
Authorities learnt on August 26, 2009, of Ms Dugard’s identity and that she and the two girls fathered by Phillip Garrido had been living in a hidden backyard compound.
Dale Kinsella, the lawyer named on the forms, did not return a message on Thursday.
His clients have included the retired boxer Mike Tyson, Sean Connery, Jennifer Lopez, Sean Penn and Julia Roberts.
The Hollywood publicist Nancy Seltzer has spoken for the family in recent weeks.
State parole agents started supervising Phillip Garrido in 1999, when he fell under a lifetime parole term for raping a woman he had kidnapped.
McClatchy Newspapers
Article source: www.smh.com.au