Placerville, California:
A California couple was jailed for life on Thursday for kidnapping a schoolgirl and sexually abusing her for 18 years, an ordeal which the victim said "stole my life."
In an emotional statement read out in court by her mother, Jaycee Dugard said she "hated every second" of her abuse at the hands of Phillip and Nancy Garrido, telling them: "There is no God in the universe that would condone your actions."
"To you, Phillip, I say that I have always been a thing for your own amusement. I hated every second of every day of 18 years because of you and the sexual perversion you forced on me," she said.
"As I think of all of those years, I am angry because you stole my life and that of my family. Thankfully I am doing well now and no longer live in a nightmare," Dugard added, in the statement read in court by her mother.
Phillip Garrido, who fathered two children with Dugard after kidnapping her aged 11 in 1991, was given 431 years, while his wife was jailed for between 36 years and life, after a plea bargain.
Nancy Garrido's lawyer, Stephen Tapson, said he read a statement to the court on behalf of his client, acknowledging that "what she did was evil," that she was sorry and that "words are not enough."
Tapson, who said Nancy Garrido would have to serve at least 20 years, added that he had asked that Nancy be allowed to see her husband one last time before they start their sentences, but the request was denied.