CA- Jaycee Lee Dugard showed signs of Stockholm syndrome

11-6-2009 California:

Jaycee Lee Dugard showed signs of Stockholm syndrome when she was found after 18 years in captivity, according to an official report by California's inspector general.

When first interviewed by parole officers who were suspicious of her alleged abductor Phillip Garrido she did not reveal her identity.

Instead, she told investigators she was a battered wife from Minnesota who was hiding from her abusive husband, and described Garrido as a "great person" who was "good with her kids".

Miss Dugard, who called herself "Alyssa", told interviewers she was aware Garrido was a convicted sex offender but that he was a "changed man". Only after Garrido admitted he had kidnapped and raped her did she identify herself as Jaycee Dugard, the report said.

Since her release and being reunited with her family Miss Dugard has indicated she will testify against Garrido and his wife Nancy who are charged with her abduction and rape.

McGregor Scott, a lawyer hired by her family, said: "Miss Dugard is fully committed to working with law enforcement to ensure Mr Garrido is held accountable for his crimes."

The report by inspector general David Shaw also listed a catalogue of mistakes by parole officers assigned to monitor Garrido which prolonged Miss Dugard's imprisonment.

Garrido is accused of kidnapping Miss Dugard in 1991, when she was 11. Three years earlier, he had been released from prison after serving only 11 years of a 50-year sentence for rape.

Mr Shaw said: "We determined that Garrido was only properly supervised 12 out of 123 months, a failure rate of 90 per cent." Parole officers failed to interview Garrido's neighbours in Antioch, California or to investigate utility wires running to a secret backyard compound where Miss Dugard, and the two daughters Garrido fathered by her, are believed to have lived.

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response in which kidnap victims begin to show sympathy for their abductors. It was named after a robbery in Sweden in which hostages became emotionally attached to their captors. ..Source.. by Nick Allen in Los Angeles