This Man Should Allready Have Been In Prison
Jaycee Lee Dugard need never have suffered 18 years of torture and rape at the hands of monster Phillip Garrido. She was let down by a parole system that cares more about cost-cutting and the “rights” of prisoners than it does about protecting society against dangerous criminals like Phillip Garrido. HN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell has been one of the few to speak up about this aspect of the case.
Instead of rotting in jail for his previous crimes, Garrido was allowed to walk the streets in search of his next victim. Not only had Phillip Garrido been lawfully convicted of the rape and kidnapping of Katie Callaway, he had also, with the full knowledge of the so-called justice system, kidnapped a young girl two years before the Callaway case. What does it say about our legal system that a sexual predator with a history of violent crimes against women and girls is allowed out of jail on parole after serving only 10 years in prison?
Soon after being released from prison in 1998 for his crimes against Katie Callaway, Phillip Garrido showed up at the casino where she worked and proceeded to try to engage her in conversation. Yet despite this stalking of his former victim, his parole was not revoked.
An then there is the issue of his parole supervision. Or should I say “supervision”. How could he keep three young women prisoner in his backyard for 18 years without his parole officers ever finding out? It boggles the mind. We are now told that in the three years previous to the rescue of Jaycee Dugard, parole officers made 24 trips to Phillip Garrido’s house. What on earth were they doing there? Having tea and crumpets with a serial rapist and kidnapper?
Photos of Garrido’s backyard show a tangled mess of tents and outbuildings that should surely have arroused the curiousity, if not suspician, of any competant parole officer. Yet they did nothing. Not even a cursory tour of the property seems ever have to been made. It boggles the mind.
Certainly, parole officers must carry heavy workloads in this age of rampant criminality, but a little vigilance isn’t too much to ask, is it? Even the smallest curiosity on the part of Garrido’s parole officer would have sniffed out his crimes and saved Jaycee Dugard and her daughters years of captivity and torment.
As if the incompetence of the parole authorities isn’t enough, the local police also had a chance to save Jaycee Dugard and her daughters. A suspicious neighbor called the police to complain that three young women were living in Garrido’s backyard. Police responded to the call, yet failed to take a serious look at the backyard, which was in such a state of shabby disrepair that it almost demanded investigation. Another chance lost, and more lost years for the Dugard girls.
Our government officials are only human, of course; but they receive very nice wage and benefit packages for their work. Is it too much to ask that they earn them?
