Jaycee Dugard Files Complaint Against Government

Jaycee Dugard has filed a complaint against the U.S. government seeking damages for alleged negligence in connection with its parole supervision responsibility over paroled rapist Phillip Garrido, who kidnapped Jaycee in 1991 and held her captive for 18 years.

Dugard received a settlement from the State of California last year for $20 million after her family alleged that lapses in the state's correctional system failed to prevent her kidnapping and subsequent captivity, which included repeated sexual abuse that resulted in two pregnancies.

The current complaint alleges that the federal government was negligent in its parole supervision responsibility over Garrido from the day he was released in 1988 until 1999, when California assumed parole responsibilities. The complaint states that the U.S. government has so far rejected two requests for private mediation in an effort to settle the case.

A press release announcing the complaint emphasizes that Dugard is not seeking settlement money for herself and will donate 100 percent of any money received to her family's JAYC Foundation, which was established to provide support and services for the treatment of families recovering from abduction and the aftermath of traumatic experiences.

"It goes without saying that what Jaycee went through in any one week of her 18-year captivity is more horrifying than most people will experience in their lifetime," the press release said.