Carl Probyn: Jaycee Lee Dugard's Stepfather Talks About Her Return (PICTURES)

MSNBC interviewed Jaycee Lee Dugard's stepfather Carl Probyn Friday morning.

18 years after watching his stepdaughter's abduction, Probyn recounts the phone call about her return.

Probyn was once considered a suspect in Jaycee's disappearance. "It broke my marriage up. I've gone through hell, I mean I'm a suspect up until yesterday," a tearful Carl Probyn, 60, told The Associated Press.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

• • • • • • • • • Phillip Garrido, 58, is being held for investigation of various kidnapping and sex charges. Police believe he was trolling for victims in South Lake Tahoe in 1991, when he snatched Jaycee Lee Dugard from a bus stop outside her home. Garrido has a long rap sheet dating to the 1970s. He was convicted of kidnapping a 25-year-old woman whom he snatched from a South Lake Tahoe parking lot, handcuffed, tied down and held in a mini-warehouse, according to a November 1976 story in the Reno Gazette-Journal. He also has a conviction for rape by force or fear stemming from the same incident.

Comments

[slinky43]

06:33 PM on 08/31/2009

Wow! This case is unbelieveable..first of all the guy was convicted already, and had a probation officer..where was he all these years? Did he not check out his house, and activities once in awhile? We obviously need to hire more probation officers for the percentage of child predators that exsist in our society! Child predators are very manipulative, very convincing to the average person. They can fool people easily. They have practiced what they do for a very long time, and have perfected all of their lies. I think that there should be classes for our probation officers, police officers, and social workers to learn about the manipulation techniques of these predators. These classes should be manditory! Also to act on any alligations against them should be thoroughly investigated, and the authorities should never be listening to the reason of the convicted felon; Of course they will have an explanation for everything..they are self taught manipulators, plus, now they have the internet to learn how to do this even easier than years ago!

[Javida]

12:45 AM on 09/01/2009

And to add: Parole officers need to be trained to investigate rather than simply observe. The parole officer visited the home but, apparently, only wanted to see his living arrangements and whether Garrido was present. He didn't walk the property as he should have. I guess officers just arent' trained to be circumspect when they visit parolees. The criminal justice dept really blew it on this one.

Also, the police officer, who went to the house after getting a neighbor's call of someone living in the back yard, failed to investigate. He must've just taken the world of Garrido. Like you say, police and parole officers need to be far better trained in criminal behavior. Sexual Offenders and other criminals are, as you mention, crafty manipulators. I just wish that neighbor had persisted until police properly investigated the property. That's a lesson to all eyewitnesses: Persist, persist, persist until someone heeds your warning.

[jody1209]

06:22 PM on 08/31/2009

My heart hurts for those 3 girls. I cant even imagine what that family is going through right now but I only hope its a blessed reunion. May god be with them and help them get through this part of their lives. On the other hand, for the the men and/or women on that parole board who let that MONSTER out in 1987 all I want to say is this- I HOPE every night when you lay your head down on your pillow you think about the all the lives that you destroyed because of your IGNORANCE. Who in their right mind would EVER think that somebody as disturbed and dangerous as this man was and still is, could possibly EVER be reformed!!! They should all be held accountable, even the parole officers who supposedly kept an eye on him as he was molesting little girls in his backyard!!!! I HOPE this haunts all of you for the rest of your lives!!!!

[slinky43]

06:43 PM on 08/31/2009

I totally agree with you Jody1209! This is outrageous behavior from our authorities! I can tell you that I grew up in a foster home from the age of 12-18, and none of the children there ever recieved any counseling! These were children who were molested, were runaways, neglected children, or just troubled for one reason or another. I am 43 now, and have had to get extensive counseling and pay for it myself! I'll tell you the majority of the authorities in our systems are not doing what they should for the children of this country. I think it has to do with so many budget cuts, and not enough employees to do the job necessary to make our country a safer, and better place to live. Really though, where are our taxes going? Not to where they should, I will tell you...

[Javida]

12:52 AM on 09/01/2009

In many areas, the juvenile and criminal justice systems are the mental health treatment centers of our communities. Most communities come up far too short w/ providing mental health care to children, adolescents, adults and families. It's known that a very high calibre of mental health care is available in detention/placement centers, jails and prisons. That's because the US Dept of Justice requires it to meet quality standards. The same quality standards should be expected in our community mental health clinics/agencies and via private care and schools.

[b-rad123]

04:05 PM on 08/31/2009

Our society should have a no tolerance on any crime toward children, the elderly and violent crimes towards anyone. A bullet cost, what about a dollar, and be done with them. No studying them or trying to rehabilitate them. I grew up in a very rough and abusive home, but never did I not know right from wrong. There comes a point in everyone's life no matter what was done to them as a child that you take responsibility for your action because you know right from wrong. Unless you are mentally handicapped of course. People that commit these crimes know that they are wrong and they deserve to be put to death. Do not put them on death row for us responsible citizens to pay for them, put a bullet in their head and be done with it. I feel that they do not deserve compassion because they did not give it to their victim.

[ttbone]

03:51 AM on 08/31/2009

this breakdown or lack of officials doing the very thing they are paid to do, their career that they were trained to do and do everyday and it was too much for them to connect the dots. What else are they doing on a daily basis to allow this kind of terror to go on daily-MY GOD it was their job to ask the right questions but they just couldn't be bothered with the BACKYARD! Attention- This was before Arnold cut all the social programs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD HELP US for trusting the professionals!

[newtom]

02:34 PM on 08/31/2009

Too busy writing traffic tickets and busting small-time pot smokers. Law enforcement doesn't want to be bothered with the dangerous criminals. It's much easier and safer to harass small-time offenders and collect revenue through traffic court.

[atlantishp]

01:00 AM on 08/30/2009

The real disquieting element of this story is the breakdown of the police and parole establishments in failing to uncover the existence of these three persons. Neighbors had called the police saying that children were living in the backyard in tents in a registered sex offender's back yard. The cop came to check things out and didn't even go into the back yard! Also parole officers made unannounced visits and still failed to reveal these hostages.

I suppose O.J. and Robert Blake thank the criminal justice system in California is the best in the world though.

[bunnyv]

01:04 AM on 08/30/2009

You are kidding!? That's absolutely horrifying. I haven't read any of the other articles because it's just too painful for me to read the details about these kind of things. If ever a lawsuit was deserved.............

[LatteLiberals]

07:47 AM on 08/30/2009

I agree, the real scandal of this store is that the cops didn't do their due diligence. They ignored calls from the neighbors and failed to investigate the entire house.

This whole story is a tradegy all the way around. For the young woman, her children and her parents.

We really need to think about how we deal with sexual offenders in a productive way. They can not be easily rehabilitated. Placing them under parole and allowing them back into society is just too risky.

[tabatha]

01:53 AM on 08/31/2009

Why didn't they consider him as a suspect at the time of her kidnapping 18 years ago?

He was in the law enforcement data bases due to his prior violent sexual assualts, yet he was
apparently never considered a suspect.

The law enforcement on duty at that time are now retired, collecting their 95% of salary pensions.

[FolkSong]

10:02 PM on 08/29/2009

God!

Can we expect O'Rielly now to duplicate his behavior shown towards Shawn Hornbeck? You know, where he said Shawn actually liked living away from his parents for some odd long years in the confines of his kidnapper's apartment closet? Will he duplicate the charge now that the victims are young, blonde girls?

[SimianNation]

05:51 PM on 08/29/2009

Death penalty! It really seems that simple. 5 years in maximum security for the psych people to study this sick individual, then the chair.

[StarDagger]

06:42 PM on 08/29/2009

Oh i missed that, who did he kill?

[Wiseronenow]

09:03 PM on 08/29/2009

He killed the spirit for life of three young women.

[Wiseronenow]

09:04 PM on 08/29/2009

He k i l l e d the spirit of the lives of three young women.

[talkingdog]

06:53 PM on 08/29/2009

No, I disagree.

The best thing for them is a long, solitary, healthy life in a little box.
No ights.

Daily visits by bubba and a sister of the lord.

[Laura McBride]

07:03 PM on 08/29/2009

Thanks, Talking Dog. Good idea. Plus, your last line makes me laugh, both because it's funny and for the perfect justice of it. I LOVE "bubba and a sister of the lord." Perfection. Thanks.

[bunnyv]

01:01 AM on 08/30/2009

Agreed. For situations where there is absolutely, positively no doubt as to the intent of an offender in a case like this, the death penalty seems waaaaaaaaaay to easy. Being that he is a religious fanatic and thought that "it was a beautiful thing" (saw the headline, couldn't bear to actually read the article. I am assuming that huff po didn't sensationalize) he probably thinks that he is "saved" and has a place in heaven waiting for him. Oh no. He should suffer.

[dlvme2]

05:14 PM on 08/29/2009

This is such a sad thing. I hope the family can pull together again and heal from all this - it definitely is going to be an uphill battle. None of us can really imagine what they have gone through. It saddens me even more to hear people posting on this and trying to politicize it or link it to religion. There are nuts in every walk of life and from all religions and even those without religion. It is truly and equal opportunity illness :O) At 11 and 15 - most children's personalities have been formed - I hope that their mother Jaycee was able to remember the good from her life before and have some normal effect on her children - that is if she was allowed much time with them. It is just a horrible, horrible thing.

[StarDagger]

01:23 PM on 08/30/2009

You are also assuming that it was some nazi gulag the whole time. While I am sure it was no picnic, in his own sick way he loved them all. I think when and if the details come out, it will not be as bad as people think. Very bad yes, but not some Hannibal Lecter story, people can not maintain that level of evil over time. The fact that he remained hidden for so long sort of indicates they were living a somewhat normal existence. (And the fact that the neighbors were pathetic lemmings).

The irony is that removing them from this very screwed up "family" will be very traumatic for them, and the responses of people in society will be hard for them to deal with. "OMFG you were a child in there" and so on, I wonder what will do more damage, living with their abducted mother in that situation or the aftermath.
Everything is socially defined.

Yours in massively controversial Sociological Plasma,
Star*Dagger

P.S. dons flame proof suit, lol

[Wiseronenow]

08:04 PM on 08/31/2009

"The fact that he remained hidden for so long sort of indicates they were living a somewhat normal existence".

Normal?? You rape a child of 11, program her to consider herself no more than a dog living in a tent, continuing raping her so she produces her first child, and then impregnates her again and you consider that normal??? And, the criteria for you is because he hid her from view for 18 years that "sort of indicates they were living normally"? Do you live in a tent/shed that you would consider that a somewhat normal existence???

[lorjon]

10:23 PM on 09/01/2009

Okay, let's put it this way. Garrido escapes tonight, sees YOU on the street, abducts you, rapes you and keeps you like a farm animal in his backyard for 18 years under his control and -- okay, you're an adutl so you might try to escape but if you fail or he punishes you, you end up staying -- and in 18 years we can all say it was "no picnic" for you but at least there was some semblance of normalcy because he managed to keep hidden. And maybe it would be better for you in fact to stay with him because you're probably family to each other now and so why come back into society? Yeah, I get it now.

But you are right that it will be hard for them to adjust to our idea of normal society which is not what they endured.

A woman can be screwed up for years after being raped once. This little chlid was raped repeatedly and apparently by men at his parties waiting in line. Did he rape the daughters too? The tihng is no one on this earth will ever really know what went on there for 18 years except for the sicko himself and his depraved accomplice of a wife. Even Jaycee herself possibly repressed much of it to survive.

The fact that he maintained the secrecy for 18 years has nothing to do with "normalcy" existing there -- it has to do with sheer cunning and deviousness

[bnww]

04:13 PM on 08/29/2009

And this -- and a whole lot worse -- is what America did to people of African descent for centuries!!

[seattle music]

07:02 PM on 08/29/2009

Yes. It's horrifying to consider, isn't it? Then and now.

Unfortunately, the slave trade is alive and well. I get so angry when people talk about prostitution being a victimless crime. Many of your local massage parlors and cat houses are "stocked" with little girls and sometimes boys who are kidnapped/sold/coerced into prostitution, taken across-country or even half-way around the world and then threatened with death if they don't perform.

They are threatened with death.

Is human trafficking for the sex trade different than the Dugard case? It is not.

[LindaInAus]

07:19 PM on 08/29/2009

That's sad. I'm glad you pointed it out because I'd forgotten about that.
The two ARE very much alike. Tragic - either one.

[RRuin]

03:28 PM on 08/29/2009

The man is a rapist and a pedophile. He did what he did because it made him happy. Does that make him sick? Yes, but not in a way the means he didn't know what he was doing was wrong. He did it because he found a way to get away with it.
It think he turned to "religion" to find a way to justify his crimes.
But how could the police and the parole officers, knowing he was convicted of kidnapping and rape three times, never search his house or property, but merely check in with him?
Even after a call came in telling them there was a problem?
Of course in the end the obvious question is how a guy who continued to rape and kidnap kept being released at all.

[angryliberal]

04:03 PM on 08/29/2009

A rapists weapon is in their pants. Remove that, and it's problem solved.

[Waltfl]

08:02 PM on 08/29/2009

They all turn to religion to justify their crimes, both, the little sickos, who snatch kids at the bus stop, and the big sickos, who send the B-52s over a city. No big deal. Repent, get the absolution, and good.

[SoClearToMe]

09:12 AM on 08/30/2009

Oh I know. I can't understand why Catholics are still Catholics. I mean the Catholic Church knowingly had all these child rapists as their priests and what did they do? They sent these rapists out to other parishes to do the same again and again and again.

They talk about how people are going to hell, an actual place after death, they say, for having sex outside of marriage or with a person of their own gender. When in actuality they were creating hell in this life for so many people ON PURPOSE by using forced sex on children by their priests.

[sysmgr1345]

03:26 PM on 08/29/2009

I notice everyone is staying away from the fact that he indoctrinated this girl mentally and emotionally. That is the REALLY ugly part. Rape of the mind makes rape of the body seem lame.

[StarDagger]

01:34 PM on 08/30/2009

I am quite sure she sees him as her husband and lover, and he sees her as his 2nd wife and their kids are... well his kids.
Alot of the trauma from this is going to come from the separation.

S*D

[LindaInAus]

02:39 PM on 08/29/2009

I think it's very telling when people talk to a professional Ph.D. chemist, but are screaming out
'water is NOT H20 ! Just because I'm not a chemist doesn't mean I don't get an opinion, too!"

I think it's very telling when people talk to a professional Ph.D. mathematician and whine that
"2 + 2 does NOT equal 4, and I think I ought to know!"
--

Look, here's the deal:

On an MMPI, for example, the "Paranoia" scale is usually very high with people who are
psychotic, [I'm not arguing specifically schizophrenia ];

...and with 'Social' scales , they usually score low since they are so often a recluse,don't have many friends;

...their scores for black/white thinking are almost always very high;
....their scores which reflect "authority figures" is usually more than interesting.

Research has shown that people who score like this (above) often times hate our Government,
don't trust others, approach laws and social skills as Black/White [concretely]; and more often than not vote Republican.

...I'm talking about psychotics who are still ambulatory, which means still out there in society trying to hold down a job; are eligible to vote, are still interested in voting, etc.

You don't have to like this. But arguing with somebody who has studied this all their
life really makes you look foolish.

Go look it up yourself, then.

But just arguing because you don't want to believe something because you're defensive
about Republican's just makes you look bad.

[HCB7562002]

06:07 PM on 08/29/2009

I think it's very telling when a person continually rants about her qualification to rant. I'm a REAL PhD in psychiatry. First of all, there's no such thing as a PhD in psychology - not really - I mean, who would want one? Secondly, it's been demonstrated repeatedly and conclusively that psychoses are not the cause of political leanings. Nor are they caused by political leanings. It's a matter of genetics. Many women, for example, suffer from inferiority complexes which are partly caused by genetics (contributed by the father) and environment (contributed by a compliant mother). Those complexes left unchecked through puberty result in psychotic behavior which is otherwise inexplicable. Left untreated, the psychoses blossom until the poor woman starts blathering and speaking nonsense. The real problem occurs when she thinks she makes sense but those around her express an opposite conclusion. That leads to developing a propensity for sharp objects with a cutting edge.

[tabatha]

12:36 AM on 08/30/2009

you are posting nonsense!

of course there is a PhD in psychology...one can pursue clinical psychology or various other fields within the discipline....clinical psychologists are licensed to perform psychotherapy, whereas many other types of psychologists pursue research of various kinds in psychology....cognitive, behavioral, whatever

there is no PhD in psychiatry! one obtains an MD in psychiatry...a psychiatrist is medical doctor, who then obtains further training in psychiatry!

the rest of your post is more nonsense!

[Javida]

01:35 AM on 09/01/2009

So w/ a very broad and badly damaged brush you're going to summarize human behavior in a couple dozen sentences!! If you have a degree, you're a loud quack -- no offense to ducks.

[Aquilina]

01:03 PM on 08/29/2009

I have no doubt Phillip Garrido is mentally ill, most likely schizophrenic. Even so, he knew what he did was wrong, on some level. Otherwise, he wouldn't have hid it the way he did. A soundproof shed...this monster knew what he was doing. Despite his illness, he managed to function in society. During all those years he kept Jaycee captive, he must have had moments of lucidity.

[PiedemontVA]

01:17 PM on 08/29/2009

I think that the insane label might stick with Mr. Garrido - but what about his wife? She just makes me furious. I don't care if you are being beaten, or if you are scared, I don't see how anyone could stand idly by while he did this to another woman, let alone a girl. I hope she gets whats coming to her as well.

[seattle music]

07:05 PM on 08/29/2009

Do you hold Jaycee Dugard equally responsible for what happened to her daughters?

[DrRebel]

11:29 AM on 08/29/2009

To LindaInAus and others, come on...psychosis is an equal opportunity mental illness, it crosses all political and religious and cultural boundaries. The guy was a sicko plain and simple. Hasn't politics in this country gotten ugly enough? Do we have to start throwing these kinds of things at each other, just making it worse? Isn't the story bad enough without politicizing it?

[billtmore]

11:48 AM on 08/29/2009

Ok lets not throw politics but let's remember the most important thing in this guys mind was religion he was pushing it on people. DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR???? thing right wingnut

[Motorinstructor]

12:05 PM on 08/29/2009

This is mental illness plain and simple! Leave religion out of it.

[reesetv]

12:49 PM on 08/29/2009

Well religion got him busted in the end, didn't it?
Love that he got caught handing out pamphlets. And, seriously, I want the police officer at Berkeley who followed his gut to be recognized as a hero. Other people were susupicious but never followed up on it. If we start recognizing people as heroes for these 'captures', more people will step forward in the future.

[LindaInAus]

12:46 PM on 08/29/2009

I'm a retired psychologist, Ph.D.

You're are wrong about psychosis being 'equal opportunity mental illness'.

I used to think that way also. I was taught that in graduate school.

After 40 years private practice, however, nope.

A majority of these freaks vote Republican.[WHEN they vote]
Latest research [political] has shown this...

[PiedemontVA]

01:19 PM on 08/29/2009

Um, I think some of your "patients" rubbed off on you. EIther that or it was time to quit because you were hearing voices.....

[jack s]

04:49 PM on 08/29/2009

The voices kept telling her how to vote. Was the research conducted by your imaginary panel of experts? Also since it was your job to work with these type of people could we blame you for these so called ambulatory psychotics out there?

[LindaInAus]

10:40 AM on 08/29/2009

Of course, you know, don't you, that Philip Garrido always voted Republican.

Figures.

[RSU]

11:03 AM on 08/29/2009

One only needs to look into our prisions to find lots of Democrats who are far worse than this guy.

[havemysay]

11:11 AM on 08/29/2009

I thought criminals couldn't vote?!

[HCB7562002]

12:03 PM on 08/29/2009

Nope - I didn't know that Linda. By the way, are there elections on your planet?

[PiedemontVA]

01:15 PM on 08/29/2009

I agree, Linda is probably talking to God through a box too ... to turn this horrible incident into some political finger pointing is just plain wrong.

[LindaInAus]

05:16 PM on 08/29/2009

Look at how people act. The ones who don't vote Democrat.

What little brats you sound like!!

What pathetic little tiny minds!