California couple who held woman for 18 years sentenced to prison

California couple who held woman for 18 years sentenced to prison

2011-06-03 04:38:49 GMT+7 (ICT)

PLACERVILLE, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) -- The Californian couple who pleaded guilty of kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard were sentenced on Thursday to prison terms that could keep them behind bars for the rest of their lives.

The Los Angeles Times reported that 60-year-old Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison, while his 55-year-old wife Nancy was sentenced to 36 years to life in prison. They were accused of kidnapping 11-year-old Dugard in 1991 and raping her. Dugard, who was held captive for 18 years, even gave birth to two children at the age of 14 and 17.

Before sentencing Phillip Garrido, Judge Douglas C. Phimister said the "defendant lacks a soul. What you have done is beyond horrible. May you think long and hard about what you did." 

Terry Probyn read a statement from her daughter, who did not attend the hearing: "To Phillip Garrido, I hated every second of every day of 18 years because of you. To you Nancy, I have nothing to say."

Dugard, now 31, was walking to a bus stop in South Lake Tahoe on June 10, 1991, when she was kidnapped in front of her stepfather. Garrido was driving the car, and Nancy snatched the child. According to court documents, they drove immediately to Antioch, a suburb east of San Francisco, where they imprisoned Dugard in a backyard warren of tents and sheds for 18 years.

Dugard and her daughters were discovered in August 2009.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-06-03