Rape of Jaycee began at age 11 and involved Nancy Garrido

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.

Whether Nancy Garrido physically participated in the sexual assaults was unclear. Combined, the couple face 29 felony counts that could bring each of them multiple life sentences if convicted.

Garrido and his wife appeared together in a media-packed Placerville courtroom for their arraignment, sitting in the jury box, their arms shackled in front of their waists. Nancy Garrido, 54, heaved, furrowed her brow and hung her dark hair over her face, shielding it.

As deputies continue to search the home where Jaycee and two daughters fathered by Garrido lived in a secret backyard compound, a dossier of failures by authorities continue to emerge.

Officers in the US admitted they were “kicking ourselves” that an opportunity was missed three years ago as she suffered almost two decades of torment in a back garden after being kidnapped at the age of 11.

According to her relatives, Ms Dugard – now 29 – felt guilty about her relationship with Garrido and declared “hi, mom, I have babies” in an emotional reunion with her family this week.

As forensic experts searched Garrido’s Californian home for evidence relating to the unsolved murders of a number of prostitutes, details of missed chances by authorities were exposed.

Authorities missed several chances to search his house after neighbours had complained to police that a psychotic sex addict was in their midst and was housing young girls in backyard tents three years ago. A deputy who showed up to investigate never went beyond the front porch, while probation officers also had no inkling that his back yard was actually a labyrinth of tents, sheds and buildings. They did not even know he had children on the premises.

Ms Dugard remains with her two children, 11 and 15, and family, according to reports.

Her stepfather Carl Probyn, who was there when she was snatched from a bus stop, said: “Jaycee has strong feelings with this guy. She really feels it’s almost like a marriage.”

Garrido and his wife Nancy, 55, denied dozens of charges including kidnap, rape and false imprisonment when they appeared at El Dorado Superior Court yesterday.

The pair remained largely silent as 29 charges were laid before them. Both were denied bail.

A spokesman at the Sheriff’s Department said Ms Dugard was apparently kept in a shed in the concealed area of the garden of the Garridos’ house where her children were born and brought up.

The Garridos were arrested on Wednesday after Garrido admitted the kidnapping under close questioning by a parole officer.

He had been called in after being seen with two children at the University of California, Berkeley.

El Dorado County Undersheriff Fred Kollar said the children have never been to school and never been to the doctor.

Meanwhile, forensic experts are looking for evidence relating to the unsolved murders of a number of prostitutes.

Several bodies were dumped near an industrial park where Garrido worked during the 1990s.