Lessons from the Garrido 18-Year Kidnapping Tragedy

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The USA Today editorial titled Our view on criminal Justice: 18-year kidnapping tragedy yields useful lessons examines how a convicted kidnapper and rapist, a man being monitored by parole officers and on sex offender watch lists, eluded authorities for so long while tormenting a captive child.

In the meantime, I received a warning yesterday from my local police department that two registered sex offenders have moved into my neighborhood.

Why Did Phillip Garriddo Serve Only 11 Years of a 50-Year Sentence for Rape and Kidnapping?

More details in the sickening story of Jaycee Dugard’s 18-year ordeal, and it’s frightening to realize this nightmare occurred in a nation that prides itself on the rule of law.

Here’s the latest from the LA Times:

Reporting from San Francisco, Orinda, Calif., and Antioch, Calif. -- As details continued to emerge about Jaycee Lee Dugard's alleged kidnapper, questions intensified Monday over how Phillip Garrido could have served only 11 years in prison after a 1976 rape and kidnapping for which he had been given a 50-year federal sentence as well as a life term in Nevada.

Garrido was convicted of kidnapping in federal court for abducting Katherine Callaway in South Lake Tahoe on a November night nearly 33 years ago and driving her -- handcuffed and hogtied -- to Reno. He then pleaded guilty to a Nevada state rape charge for assaulting her in a storage unit.

Read more – if you can stand it:

Jaycee’s Stepfather and Two Women Who Helped Crack the Case on the Early Show (video)

In an interview on the Early Show (CBS) Jaycee’s stepfather, Carl Probyn said Jaycee and her two daughters are taking in their new life one step at a time.

"It's like being on Mars," Probyn said. "This is a brand new situation. ... It's pretty remarkable what they have to face."

Probyn said it's going to take a long time for his stepdaughter and her daughters to integrate into a life outside of captivity, but they are receiving assistance from National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Watch the interview below: