PLACERVILLE, Calif. - A man who says he's Jaycee Lee Dugard's biological father spoke to reporters outside an El Dorado County Courthouse on Thursday after a brief hearing for the couple accused of kidnapping Dugard and holding her captive for 18 years.
Ken Slayton attended the hearing for Phillip and Nancy Garrido of Antioch, Calif., who are accused of kidnapping Dugard from her South Lake Tahoe bus stop when she was 11.
The Garridos were in court for just a couple of minutes Thursday. Their attorneys set Dec. 11 as the next court date.
Afterward, Slayton said that he has never met Dugard, but pledged his support.
"She needs a lot of help. I want to be part of the help. I'm here for her one way or another, if I meet her or if I don't meet her. Someday she'll know I was here," Slayton, 63, said.
He used strong words when asked how it felt to see Phillip Garrido in court.
"I just wanted to rip the guy's head right off. It may sound a little barbaric. But look at what he did to my daughter. ... What can you do but sit back and pray justice gets served," Slayton said.
Slayton was accompanied in court by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred, who is helping him attempt to reconnect with Dugard.
Slayton did not help raise Dugard because he lost contact with her mother shortly after the pregnancy, according to a press release written by Allred.
When asked why he still had not seen Dugard, Allred said, "Because (Dugard) is in a safe and secure location. In other words, we don't know where she is."
Slayton was also asked why he is only now attempting to be a part of his daughter's life.
He responded, "Is it ever too late to be a father? If you knew the whole story you'd understand."
An attorney who represents Dugard's family was in court, but did not comment.
Katie Callaway Hall, who was kidnapped and raped by Garrido in 1976, was also there. Garrido was convicted and served 10 years of a 50-year prison sentence.
Hall told reporters how she felt after the hearing.
"It was emotional. It was the same old fears coming back. But I want to be here. I feel so extremely passionate about this," she said.
Hall had a special message for Dugard: "Be strong, and remember that he (Garrido) did something horribly wrong," she told reporters.
Garrido, 58, and his wife Nancy Garrido, 54, are accused of kidnapping Dugard in 1991 and holding her captive in a backyard compound of tents and sheds. She reportedly had two children with Garrido, the first when she was 14 years old.
The Garridos face 28 felony charges including kidnapping for sexual purposes, rape, forcible abduction and false imprisonment by violence. They face multiple life sentences if convicted. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.