SACRAMENTO — A woman who bore two children while being held prisoner for nearly two decades will receive $20 million from the state of California after claiming that parole officers failed to do their job and find her while monitoring a convicted rapist.
Lawmakers approved the settlement yesterday for Jaycee Dugard, now 30, and her two daughters, who resurfaced last August after being held in a secret backyard by a suspect identified by authorities as Phillip Garrido.
“It is compensation for three people for the rest of their lives who have been horribly damaged over a period of 17 or 18 years,’’ said mediator Daniel Weinstein.
Dugard and her daughters, ages 15 and 12, filed claims in February, saying parole agents with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation began supervising Garrido in 1999 but didn’t discover them.
The money will be used to buy the family a home, ensure privacy, pay for education, replace lost income, and cover what will probably be years of therapy, Weinstein said.
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