The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco Thursday said the failures by federal parole officers in the handling of Phillip Garrido's case are as "outrageous and inexcusable as they are numerous."
If federal parole officers had done their jobs, Dugard's lawyers allege, Dugard and her daughters would not have had to endure their years of captivity in a ramshackle compound tucked inside Garrido's Antioch backyard.
Garrido was on parole for raping and kidnapping a 25-year-old woman in 1977 when he kidnapped Dugard in 1991.
He fathered Dugard's two children while he and his wife, Nancy, held her captive. The pair was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and rape charges in the case.
The complaint alleges that the federal government's negligence allowed Garrido to be free to kidnap Dugard. The complaint said federal authorities were aware he was still dangerous yet failed to revoke his parole and send him back to prison.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice said government attorneys will review the complaint once they are served, and "make a determination about how we will ultimately respond in court."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
