Saturday, August 29, 2009

Jaycee Lee Dugard Case Could Get Complicated Fast

This week's very bizarre story of Jaycee Lee Dugard has captured everyone's attention. Ms. Dugard was kidnapped 18 years ago when she was just 11 years old by Phillip Garrido ( a convicted violent sex offender) and his wife. Over the course of the 18 year imprisonment, Garrido appears to have fathered at least two children with Dugard. He was arrested and charged with rape and kidnapping.

But what if Ms. Dugard is experiencing Stockholm Syndrome? This seems likely since she's now a 29 year old woman who has not made any apparent attempts to flee (time will tell on that).

The oldest child is 15, which would have made her 13-15 years old at the time of birth. Clearly that would have been, at the very least, statutory rape. Her other child is 11 which would put her age at roughly 18, so rape would be the only charge available there.

The question now is, what are the statute of limitations on kidnapping, statutory rape (assuming Dugard claims it was consensual due to Stockholm Syndrome) and rape (assuming Dugard realizes she was kidnapped and held against her will) in California?

I'm betting that many of those have run out.

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