Seven years after Jaycee Dugard was rescued from captivity, she says she's finally ready to date

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Jaycee Dugard Is Ready To Start Dating: 'It Hasn't Happened Overnight'
Jaycee Dugard Is Ready To Start Dating: 'It Hasn't Happened Overnight'


Jaycee Dugard has revealed that she may finally be ready for a relationship with a man following her rescue from sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, seven years ago.

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In a new interview with 20/20, Dugard, 36, discusses her new book, Freedom: My Book of Firsts, and how she is healing.

"It's taken a lot of time," she said of the healing process. "It hasn't happened overnight."

Dugard revealed to Sawyer that she finally may be ready to date.

She said: "I want it to be true and it's a guy who is caring has a sense of humor, can laugh about all this stuff, likes to cook."

In her book, she writes about how she is "damaged" and couldn't be capable of a physical relationship.

She was held for 18 years and gave birth to two daughters while in captivity.

Dugard was 11 years old when Garrido and his wife snatched her on her way to school. Over the next 18 years, she was assaulted daily in their backyard, living in tents and a soundproof shed.

The children are now in their 20s and Sawyer asked if Garrido is known as "dad."

"I think I've been calling him Philip lately when we do talk about him," she said.

Sawyer also asked if the girls would want to see Garrido someday.

"I wouldn't be okay with it, but I wouldn't stop them," she replied.

Read: Young Mother Drives Into Lake With 2-Year-Old Daughter, Trying To Kill Them Both: Cops

In 2011, Garrido was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and multiple counts of sexual assault. His wife Nancy was sentenced to life.

They are both up for parole in 2034.

Dugard's interview with Sawyer airs on ABC Friday.

Watch: Woman Pleads Guilty to Having Sex So Loudly, It Shook Neighbor's Furniture

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