By Emily Bazar
USA TODAY
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ten weeks after a woman missing for 18 years reappeared in the company of a registered sex offender, a California inquiry has found that authorities missed opportunities to find her captive in his backyard.
On Wednesday, the state inspector general issued a report faulting the correction department’s supervision of parolee Phillip Garrido, who with his wife, Nancy, has been charged with the kidnapping, false imprisonment and rape of Jaycee Lee Dugard. He allegedly fathered her two daughters.
“Garrido committed numerous parole violations and ... the department ... missed numerous opportunities to discover his victims,” the report says.
It says authorities initially misclassified Garrido as a low-risk parolee and ignored 14 alerts from his electronic ankle monitor that he violated curfew, which should have triggered closer scrutiny.
It calls for improved training of parole agents. Among the recommendations: beefing up inspections to investigate suspicious items such as an electric line that ran from Garrido’s house to a hidden backyard shed.
Corrections department Secretary Matthew Cate said in a written statement that some of the recommendations are already being implemented in new state laws taking effect in January.
Jeffery Walker, a criminology professor at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, said the plans are good but “unrealistic” because California cannot afford the necessary increase in personnel.
Bill Portanova, a defense attorney and former prosecutor in Sacramento, agreed that the parole system is “overburdened and underfunded.” He said the law should distinguish non-violent offenders from the most dangerous criminals, giving parole agents more time to supervise higher-risk parolees.
“There’s not enough money to treat every felon the same,” he said.
The California report came as Cleveland police found a skull from an 11th body at the home of Anthony Sowell, a registered sex offender. He has been charged with five counts of aggravated murder.
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