Free Republic

In her first television interview, an emotional Jaycee Lee Dugard talked about why she was speaking out about the pain and determination she felt as she was held captive for nearly two decades by convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido. "Why not look at it? You know, stare it down until it can't scare you anymore," she told ABC News' Diane Sawyer. "I didn't want there to be any more secrets...I hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't something I did that caused this to happen. And I feel that by putting it all out there, it's very freeing." Dugard was clear...

PLACERVILLE -- Phillip and Nancy Garrido were sentenced to virtual life terms in prison Thursday morning shortly after Jaycee Dugard exhorted the pair through her mother, capping a whirlwind of a case that captured hearts and imaginations worldwide after Dugard surfaced and revealed she spent two decades as the prisoner of a twisted sexual bondage and captivity scheme outside Antioch. Phillip Garrido, 60, received a sentence of 431 years to life in prison, while Nancy Garrido, 55, was sentenced to 36 years to life in prison, all in accordance with their guilty pleas last month in a El Dorado County...

PLACERVILLE -- A convicted sex offender and his wife pleaded guilty Thursday to kidnapping and raping a Northern California girl when she was 11 and holding her captive for nearly two decades. The pleas came as part of a surprise deal with prosecutors that will spare victim Jaycee Dugard and her two daughters born after she was raped by defendant Phillip Garrido from having to testify at a trial. "I'm relieved that Phillip and Nancy Garrido have finally acknowledged their guilt and confessed to their crimes against me and my family," Dugard said in a statement released by her spokeswoman...