Jaycee Dugard video a plea for privacy
| San Francisco
California kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard, held captive for 18 years, made her first TV appearance Friday morning, six months after her remarkable recovery.
While her family said they released the recent home video of Ms. Dugard, who was 11 when she was kidnapped from her South Lake Tahoe, Calif., neighborhood, to express gratitude to many well-wishers, it was also a plea for privacy in a case that has generated intense media attention.
鈥淲hat our family needs is privacy during our healing process,鈥� said Terry Probyn, Dugard鈥檚 mother, in a videotape aired on ABC鈥檚 "Good Morning America." 鈥淎s a mother, I am pleading for our privacy in this very public story.鈥�
In making available the video, more segments of which ABC will release throughout the day Friday, Duggard's family is making a smart move, experts say.
鈥淲hat they are trying to do is to provide some message to the public that they are doing well,鈥� says Ernie Allen, president and CEO of The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 鈥淭he last thing they need is the glare of the spotlight and doing dozens of interviews."
So far, the footage showed Dugard, now 29, cooking and smiling with her family, but offered only a few words from the woman whose story has captivated many: 鈥淗i, I鈥檓 Jaycee.... It鈥檚 been a long haul, but I鈥檓 getting there.鈥�
Her alleged captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, await trial on a slew of felony charges related to the kidnapping. Mr. Garrido also faces rape charges for fathering two of Dugard鈥檚 children. The couple has pleaded not guilty.
While the Dugard case has become something of a national fascination, it has also raised many questions about the state of California鈥檚 parole system. Garrido, a convicted sex offender, was under the supervision of California parole officers at the time of his arrest.
Last month, Dugard and her mother against the state for alleged failings in the case.
According to the Contra Costa Times, the claim charges that there were 鈥渧arious lapses by corrections department." At the time of his arrest, Garrido was also subject to GPS monitoring. The Monitor covered an investigation by the California Inspector General that reported numerous failings in Garrido鈥檚 supervision.
In February, the state released in which agents considered him a "low risk" parolee despite having been convicted in Nevada of a previous violent abduction and rape.
Police have said Dugard and her two children lived in a hidden backyard compound at Garrido鈥檚 Antioch, Calif., home. At one time, according to the parole records, an agent met one of Dugard's children but believed Garrido鈥檚 story that the girl was his niece.
A California judge recently to release additional Garrido parole records, which are expected to provide even more insight into his supervision during Dugard's long captivity.
