State Board Denies Claim By Jaycee Dugard's Mother
SACRAMENTO (BCN) -- The California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board voted unanimously Thursday to reject a claim by the mother of kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard for emotional and psychological injury caused by her daughter's abduction, a spokeswoman for the board said.
Government claims and victim compensation are two distinct programs, both overseen by the board, spokeswoman Janice Mackey said.
Dugard's mother, Terry Probyn, filed her claim with the board as a government claim against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Mackey said.
In the claim, Probyn said she was psychologically and emotionally injured by "various lapses by the Corrections Department contributing to daughter Jaycee Dugard's continued captivity, ongoing sexual assault and mental and/or physical abuse."
She also said that the CDCR had a responsibility to follow its own procedures regarding supervision of parolees and failed to do so.
She asked for unspecified compensation of more than $25,000.
Mackey said the board's decision Thursday was just a formality.
Anyone who believes the state has caused them harm must first file a government claim before beginning litigation against the state.
She said the rejection was not based on the merits of the claim.
"The board rejects claims that raise complex issues, allowing the parties to proceed to court to seek judicial remedies," Mackey said in an e-mail.
Mackey said Probyn can also file a separate victims compensation claim. She said she couldn't comment on whether such a claim had already been filed because victim's compensation claims are confidential.
Dugard had filed her own claim with the board for her and her two daughters, who were fathered by her alleged kidnapper Phillip Garrido, but withdrew the claim after the state awarded her a $20 million settlement in July.
Dugard was 11 years old when she was kidnapped from in front of her South Lake Tahoe home in 1991, allegedly by Garrido and his wife, Nancy Garrido. The couple allegedly held her captive for 18 years in a tent compound in the backyard of their home just outside Antioch, where she gave birth to her two daughters.
The Garridos remain in jail in El Dorado County where they are awaiting trial.
They have both pleaded not guilty to numerous felony charges, including kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment.
At the time of the alleged kidnapping and throughout Dugard's captivity, Garrido was on parole after being convicted of a 1976 kidnapping and rape of a woman near Lake Tahoe.
Despite regular visits from parole agents, Dugard's presence in the home was not discovered until she showed up with Phillip Garrido and her two daughters at a parole office in Concord in August 2009.
A report released in 2009 by California Inspector General David Shaw found that the state parole department failed to adequately supervise Phillip Garrido and missed numerous opportunities to discover Dugard living in his backyard.
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