A kidnapping victim who was held captive for 18 years has said her life was stolen by her abductors.

A convicted sex offender and his wife have pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping a California girl in a surprise plea deal that will spare their victim and the two daughters she had during her 18 years of captivity from taking the stand at a trial.

In the US, the man accused of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard in 1991 has pleaded not guilty to charges of abducted the girl and held her captive for nearly 18 years.

A lawyer in the case of a Northern California girl held captive in a backyard compound for 18 years said he expects defendant Phillip Garrido to plead guilty to all charges and his wife to go to trial unless she gets a better plea deal.

A couple charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old girl and holding her captive for 18 years have made full confessions, a defence lawyer said.

Jaycee Dugard, the girl held prisoner in California for 18 years, will be spared from giving pre-trial evidence against her alleged captors.

A REPORT by the California attorney general’s office says parole agents spoke to the woman who was held captive by a convicted rapist for 18 years and fathered his two children, but never bothered to follow it up.

A report by the California attorney general’s office says parole agents spoke to the woman who was held captive by a convicted rapist for 18 years and fathered his two children, but never bothered to follow it up.

THE US man charged with kidnapping and raping long- time captive Jaycee Dugard has “a serious mental illness” and “may not be competent to be a defendant,” his defence lawyer said in court papers.

The US man charged with kidnapping and raping long-time captive Jaycee Dugard has "a serious mental illness" and "may not be competent to be a defendant", his defence lawyer said in court papers.

A SPOKESWOMAN for Jaycee Dugard said only Dugard and her family should decide when and if a film is made based on the 18 years she spent with the man charged with kidnapping her.

CALIFORNIA corrections officials say they’re working to improve the monitoring of released sex offenders, responding to a scathing report that cited missed chances to catch the suspect accused of holding Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years.

The man accused of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard and holding her prisoner for 18 years was not properly supervised while on parole, a report found today.

Jaycee Dugard, who spent 18 years as a captive in a sex offender's garden, released the first photos of herself as an adult - and her first statement.

A SMILING, seemingly happy Jaycee Lee Dugard graces the cover of an upcoming issue of People Magazine as a sign that after 18 years in captivity, life is finally getting back to normal.

THE lawyer for a US woman found alive 18 years after she was kidnapped said his client initially had mixed emotions surrounding the arrest of her alleged captors but now “fully understands that some terrible things were done to her”.

The lawyer for a US woman found alive 18 years after she was kidnapped said his client initially had mixed emotions surrounding the arrest of her alleged captors but now “fully understands that some terrible things were done to her”.

US authorities ended an exhaustive weeklong search on the property where a Northern California girl was allegedly held captive for 18 years.

SIGNS of disturbed soil and the discovery of bone fragments on the property where Jaycee Dugard was held captive for 18 years could indicate something is buried on a site where authorities have been searching and cadaver dogs earlier picked up a scent.

Police investigating two missing girl cases say cadaver dogs picked up a scent that could indicate buried remains in the backyard of the couple charged with kidnapping Jaycee Dugard.

A JUDGE yesterday set bail at $30 million (€20.5m) for a California man accused of kidnapping a girl and holding her captive for 18 years.

A US sheriff’s spokesman says a bone fragment pulled from the backyard of a home where kidnapping suspect Phillip Garrido once stayed is probably human.

Kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard’s aunt said today her niece remembered her family and was getting to know her younger sister, who was just a baby when she was kidnapped 18 years ago.

Nancy Garrido watched over kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard for years while she cared for her elderly, bedridden mother-in-law at the home she shared with her husband, it emerged today.

THE two police employees credited with cracking the abduction case said it was simply intuition that something was amiss when accused rapist and kidnapper Phillip Garrido showed up at a college campus with Dugard’s two daughters.

THE rape of Jaycee Dugard by convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido began within a month of her abduction at age 11, extended through her childhood and involved not only Phillip Garrido, but also his wife, Nancy, according to charges filed by El Dorado County prosecutors.

A WOMAN believed to have been kidnapped as a child in 1991 is to be reunited with her family 18 years later.