29 Apr 2011

US couple plead guilty to Jaycee Dugard kidnap

11:16 am on 29 April 2011

A California couple has pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping and raping a girl when she was 11, and holding her captive for 18 years.

Phillip Garrido, who had two children with his victim Jaycee Dugard, and his wife Nancy Garrido had earlier pleaded not guilty, the BBC reports.

Ms Dugard was kidnapped from near her home in South Lake Tahoe in 1991.

She was kept with her two daughters, now aged 13 and 16, in the backyard of the Garrido home in Antioch, California.

As part of the deal the Garridos made with prosecutors, both waived their right to appeal.

They are scheduled to be sentenced on 2 June.

Mr Garrido could be sentenced to 430 years in prison while Mrs Garrido faces 36 years in jail.