Court rejects lawsuit by 18-year kidnapping survivor Jaycee Dugard
People Magazine's October 26 issue with recently freed kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard on the cover, appears on a newstand in Washington on October 16, 2009. This is the first time a current image of Dugard has been published since she was kidnapped
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An appeals court says the U.S. government cannot be held responsible for the 1991 abduction of Jaycee Dugard, who was held by a federal parolee for 18 years.
Dugard had sued, alleging that federal officials should have revoked the man's parole prior to her kidnapping. Phillip Garrido had been convicted of a previous rape and abduction.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that Dugard wasn't Garrido's victim at the time he was placed under federal supervision. The court said U.S. authorities only have a duty to protect victims of parolees under their supervision.
Garrido kidnapped Jaycee from a California street in 1991 when she was 11 and kept her captive in a backyard compound, where he repeatedly raped her.
A message for Dugard's attorney, Dale Kinsella, wasn't immediately returned.