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SACRAMENTO, Calif. A blistering new report concludes that California state corrections officials failed repeatedly to properly supervise accused rapist and kidnapper Phillip Garrido for 10 years, missing numerous opportunities to discover that he had allegedly kept Jaycee Lee Dugard captive in his Antioch, Calif.-area back yard during the entire time California authorities were supposed to be keeping watch over him.
The report revealed a litany of mistakes and inaction by the six state parole agents who supervised Garrido from June 1999 to through August.
California Inspector General David R. Shaw found that out of 123 months, Garrido was properly supervised during only 12 of those. There were extensive periods some as long as a year during which an agent never visited the home, his report says.
Even after Garrido was placed on GPS supervision in April 2008, agents ignored repeated instances when he traveled outside a 25-mile radius that he was not supposed to leave or when the device simply stopped functioning.
In one period, the signal for the GPS device was lost 335 times, and 276 of those times, agents simply ignored the malfunctions. In 59 of those instances, agents acknowledged that the signal had been lost but took no action.
Corrections director Matthew Cate said many of the problems with Garrido's supervision stemmed from actions taken when he came under their supervision 10 years ago.
The original agent never read Garrido's federal parole file, which contained a diagram and description of the size of Garrido's large back yard where he allegedly hid Dugard and her children. Because the file had never been read, Garrido was classified as a low-level sex offender rather than a high-risk parolee who should have been monitored closely
The inspector general's report says state parole agents failed to investigate why there was a 12-year-old girl inside the home of a registered sex offender and why "clearly visible utility lines" were running from Garrido's home to a concealed compound where he allegedly kept Dugard.
Shaw said in his two-month investigation that he found "systemic problems that transcend parolee Garrido's case and jeopardize public safety."
In a press briefing in the Capitol Wednesday, the inspector general presented a chart showing that between June 1999 and July, parole officers completed 60 visits to the Garrido home. Corrections officials have said that, typically, an offender such as Garrido would be subjected to three to four home visits monthly.
"Despite numerous clues and opportunities, the department, as well as federal and local law enforcement, failed to detect Garrido's criminal conduct, resulting in the continued confinement and victimization of Jaycee and her two daughters," the audit states. "On August 26, 2009, Garrido and his wife were finally arrested for these heinous crimes, and Jaycee was reunited with her family."
Dugard was 11 and walking to school near South Lake Tahoe when Garrido and his wife allegedly abducted her in 1991, using a stun gun they carried and hiding her in his Antioch-area back yard for 18 years. Garrido was on parole, first under federal supervision and later under supervision by a California state parole agent, for a 1977 conviction for rape and kidnapping.
Garrido was supposed to serve 50 years to life in federal prison for his rape and kidnap of a 25-year-old casino worker he abducted from the Tahoe area in November 1976, the second of two women he dragged into his car that day, court records show.
But he was released in January 1988 after 11 years in prison and placed under federal supervision. He moved back into his mother's home in the Antioch area with his wife, Nancy. Federal parole records obtained by The Sacramento Bee through the Freedom of Information Act show he was praised as a model parolee. Federal agents never knew that during the period they supervised him he had allegedly kidnapped Dugard and kept her hidden.
Even after he returned to prison in 1993 for a short period for a marijuana violation, Dugard was not discovered.
Federal officials discharged Garrido from federal parole in March 1999. He was technically under the supervision of Nevada authorities because of his conviction for the 1976 rape, which took place in Reno. But in June 1999 he became the responsibility of California parole agents because he was living in Antioch.
During the next 10 years, California parole agents failed repeatedly to supervise him properly, the inspector general found, missing opportunities to detect Dugard as well as the two daughters she bore to Garrido at the home.
He was under "passive GPS" monitoring, meaning he was required to wear a monitoring device that was reviewed at certain times to see where he had been. And he was one of 40 parolees assigned to his agent.
Following Dugard's rescue, corrections officials called a press conference to label the parole agent a "hero" for discovering her, and corrections officials continued after that to state that he had acted "by the book" and should be commended for finally discovering her.
Cate said Wednesday that his department could have done more.
The report revealed a litany of mistakes and inaction by the six state parole agents who supervised Garrido from June 1999 to through August.
California Inspector General David R. Shaw found that out of 123 months, Garrido was properly supervised during only 12 of those. There were extensive periods some as long as a year during which an agent never visited the home, his report says.
Even after Garrido was placed on GPS supervision in April 2008, agents ignored repeated instances when he traveled outside a 25-mile radius that he was not supposed to leave or when the device simply stopped functioning.
In one period, the signal for the GPS device was lost 335 times, and 276 of those times, agents simply ignored the malfunctions. In 59 of those instances, agents acknowledged that the signal had been lost but took no action.
Corrections director Matthew Cate said many of the problems with Garrido's supervision stemmed from actions taken when he came under their supervision 10 years ago.
The original agent never read Garrido's federal parole file, which contained a diagram and description of the size of Garrido's large back yard where he allegedly hid Dugard and her children. Because the file had never been read, Garrido was classified as a low-level sex offender rather than a high-risk parolee who should have been monitored closely
The inspector general's report says state parole agents failed to investigate why there was a 12-year-old girl inside the home of a registered sex offender and why "clearly visible utility lines" were running from Garrido's home to a concealed compound where he allegedly kept Dugard.
Shaw said in his two-month investigation that he found "systemic problems that transcend parolee Garrido's case and jeopardize public safety."
In a press briefing in the Capitol Wednesday, the inspector general presented a chart showing that between June 1999 and July, parole officers completed 60 visits to the Garrido home. Corrections officials have said that, typically, an offender such as Garrido would be subjected to three to four home visits monthly.
"Despite numerous clues and opportunities, the department, as well as federal and local law enforcement, failed to detect Garrido's criminal conduct, resulting in the continued confinement and victimization of Jaycee and her two daughters," the audit states. "On August 26, 2009, Garrido and his wife were finally arrested for these heinous crimes, and Jaycee was reunited with her family."
Dugard was 11 and walking to school near South Lake Tahoe when Garrido and his wife allegedly abducted her in 1991, using a stun gun they carried and hiding her in his Antioch-area back yard for 18 years. Garrido was on parole, first under federal supervision and later under supervision by a California state parole agent, for a 1977 conviction for rape and kidnapping.
Garrido was supposed to serve 50 years to life in federal prison for his rape and kidnap of a 25-year-old casino worker he abducted from the Tahoe area in November 1976, the second of two women he dragged into his car that day, court records show.
But he was released in January 1988 after 11 years in prison and placed under federal supervision. He moved back into his mother's home in the Antioch area with his wife, Nancy. Federal parole records obtained by The Sacramento Bee through the Freedom of Information Act show he was praised as a model parolee. Federal agents never knew that during the period they supervised him he had allegedly kidnapped Dugard and kept her hidden.
Even after he returned to prison in 1993 for a short period for a marijuana violation, Dugard was not discovered.
Federal officials discharged Garrido from federal parole in March 1999. He was technically under the supervision of Nevada authorities because of his conviction for the 1976 rape, which took place in Reno. But in June 1999 he became the responsibility of California parole agents because he was living in Antioch.
During the next 10 years, California parole agents failed repeatedly to supervise him properly, the inspector general found, missing opportunities to detect Dugard as well as the two daughters she bore to Garrido at the home.
He was under "passive GPS" monitoring, meaning he was required to wear a monitoring device that was reviewed at certain times to see where he had been. And he was one of 40 parolees assigned to his agent.
Following Dugard's rescue, corrections officials called a press conference to label the parole agent a "hero" for discovering her, and corrections officials continued after that to state that he had acted "by the book" and should be commended for finally discovering her.
Cate said Wednesday that his department could have done more.
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Just in case they loose him again, put a bullet in his head, that way you can be sure he wont do it again.
Mrethiopian (11/04/2009, 8:17 PM )