Man who says he is Jaycee Dugard's father pleads for reunion [Updated]

Ken Slayton, who says he's the biological father of kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard, pleaded with the girl's family today for a reunion and paternity test.

Slayton, 63, appeared with Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred at her Miracle Mile office this afternoon, where both read prepared statements.

Allred said Slayton had dated Dugard's mother, Terry Susan Probyn, who went by her middle name, for about a month in 1979 when she became pregnant, but she never told him she had the baby. When he later learned through friends that she had given birth, Slayton was unable to locate Probyn, Allred said.

A spokeswoman for the Dugard family said they have not been contacted by Slayton since Jaycee was found.

"This all comes as a big surprise," spokeswoman Erika Schulte said.

After Dugard was kidnapped at age 11 from her South Lake Tahoe neighborhood in 1991, FBI officials contacted Slayton, but he was not involved in the search, Allred said.

Dugard turned herself in to Bay Area police last month after living for 18 years with Phillip and Nancy Garrido, who have been charged with kidnapping and raping her.

"I have had many nightmares over the years wondering if I could have done more to find Susan and the baby," Slayton said through tears. "Now that she has been found, I want her to know that our hearts are open to her and we long to be the loving, supportive and normal family to her and her children that she has not had for 18 years."

Allred said Slayton wants to get in touch with Dugard or a family representative to arrange a private meeting and a confidential paternity test. If the family does not consent to the test, she said Slayton may take legal action.

She said Slayton and his family have been unable to contact Dugard, who has been living with her mother and other family in seclusion in Northern California, and that they do not want to profit from Dugard's publicity.

"He wants nothing from her," Allred said. "What they really want to do is love her."

She said Slayton wants to invite Dugard and the two daughters she had with Garrido to his home in Southern California, where he keeps horses.

Allred was flanked by Slayton and his wife, Jaime, whom he married in 1983. Behind the couple stood their daughters, Sarah Lee Slayton, 25, and Brittney Lee Slayton, 21.

Slayton brought two snapshots of Terry Susan Dugard taken during a camping trip to Lake Havasu when they met.

Slayton said he has never seen Jaycee.

Meanwhile, the Dugards announced this morning that they are going to be represented by Sacramento lawyer McGregor Scott. Scott did not return phone calls. [Updated at 7:05 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said that McGregor Scott was a former assistant U.S. attorney. Scott was U.S. attorney for California's eastern district.]

Probyn released a statement this morning saying she and her family "are doing very well under the circumstances."

"We especially appreciate everyone recognizing that what we need most right now is to be allowed to become a family again within a zone of privacy and security."

Schulte says Allred and Slayton did not invite her or the family to the news conference or provide them with copies of their statements. She said the Dugards are in seclusion without television and she is not sure if they were aware of the event. She said Scott, their lawyer, may release a statement later today.

Allred said she left a message for Dugard’s attorney but had not spoken with him.

Scott, of the Sacramento law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, said he has met with Probyn and Dugard and is helping them get birth certificates for Dugard’s daughters, establish a trust fund for Dugard and the girls and possibly negotiate a book contract.

 

“Jaycee and her daughters are focused on a lengthy list of very real and definite issues they are confronting,” Scott said. “The concept of a paternity test is not even on our radar.”

 

He said the family is cooperating with prosecutors.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske in Los Angeles

Photo: Ken Slayton attends a news conference in the office of attorney Gloria Allred, right. Standing behind him is his daughter Brittney Lee Slayton, 21. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[connie]

What a creep! He's after money whether its from talk show, news show, book etc. When guys like this come out of the woodwork, he's not fooling anyone.

[masterpuff theater]

Perhaps Mr. Slayton should pony up the 18 years of child support he would owe if he was the father.

[stewart]

And thus another example of a (possible) father with absolutely no standing before the eyes of the courts when the mother could have never told the man if this were his daughter or not?
What do you want to bet he gets slapped with a massive bill for past due child support, and? Reimbursement to the state if the mother had the child on welfare, after all fathers rights are pretty non existant here abouts, not much more than an ATM?
To think he must file a petition to the court to establish he is the father?

[Lea]

So his daughers are Brittney Lee, Sarah Lee and now Jaycee Lee? That's weird.

[virago]

OMG, this guy is a jerk. How does he think he can take legal action if a paternity test isn't taken? Jaycee Dugard is an adult! She can't be forced to take one if she doesn't want to. Jaycee and her daughters need time to adjust to their new lives and to reacquaint themselves with her mother. She doesn't need to be forced into contact with more STRANGERS. If this guy cared, he would at least wait a couple of years until the dust settles on this case to come forward. God, he's almost as bad as Garrido!

[crimstudent]

The actions of Ken Slayton, along with his attorney Gloria Allred, sound pretty disgusting. If Slayton thought he was truly Jaycee's biological father and only cared for her well being then why didn't he fess up when Jaycee went missing 18 years ago? He was, after all, contacted by the FBI then. And why would his attorney announce possible legal action to the press if Jaycee's doesn't cooperate? Those are not the actions of someone with a pure heart. They sound like those of someone with very questionable motives.

[KJR]

His timing stinks...why the rush to meet Jaycee and her girls, even hiring an attorney? doesn't sound too much like a loving father to me. Jaycee and her family all have so much to be working through right now, and do not need any more stress, demands and complications thrown at them right now. If he had any decency or sense he would realize that. Seems he got through the first eleven years of her life without too much of a problem never seeing her...and reportedly didn't join in searching for his daughter after she was kidnapped. I think if he is so incapable of putting Jaycee and her girl's best interest at this time ahead of his wants, at least his lawyer (if she was any kind of a worthwhile advisor) would be advising him to send a well wishes card and generous donation to the trust fund...with a message expressing that if and when Jaycee is ready, he would love to meet her family and become a part of her life. PERIOD...then let Jaycee decide in time.

[Tamara]

Gloria Alred has no class and preys on other to advertise herself. Good thing her daughter did not take after her...

[Anonymous]

I think it is sad that Terry didn't let Jaycee's biological dad into her life. They were robbed of 18 years. He was robbed of all 29. I hope Jaycee gets to meet her biological dad, and her two younger sisters. Who both have the middle name Lee just like her, and her children get to meet their grandfather. Jaycee and her daughters need and deserve all the love they can get.

[Reme]

To Connie: I'm sorry for you and your obvious anger. Yes there are a lot of men who are creeps and don't own up to their responsibilities. But there are a lot of women who get pregnant during a short fling and either don't tell the father or move away and the father is not given the opportunity to do the right thing. Why is it so hard for you to believe he only wants the opportunity to know his daughter as he has stated? Jaycee's mother has not made any comments like, "he wanted nothing to do with us." Shame on you for making such a harsh judgment based on enormously lacking information.

To Masterpuff: Maybe Jaycee's mother never wanted child support and never tried to contact Jaycee's father. It happens all the time. Besides that, who would you have him pay child support to for her 11th - 18th year - the Garridos? Use your brain.

[Lucas]

I agree. This person is a creep. He has never had anything to do with Jaycee. never seen her, never helped in the search for her. He is a nothing. Jaycee needs nothing from this person except that he creeps back into his hole. We don't want to see or hear from you again Slayton - you are a creep. Go away.

[Jacki]

She might not want contact with him, after all she has been through and those girls, a man coming into her life who she has never known would be terrifying.

[Keli]

What a selfish family! If all they want to do is "love her" they should realize that Jaycee is going through an unimaginable amount of psychological issues right now and leave her alone. It's pretty clear why Terry Probyn decided not to let this man know she was pregnant. After all the years of horror that she went through, he is now going to complicate her life during this miracle reunion and show up with a powerful lawyer and demand his rights to be her father. I don't even think her "real father" Carl Probyn has been able to see her yet. It's one thing to request this from the family, and quite another to threaten legal action if they don't comply. Hmmmm, just like Jaycee endured with Garrido, another power-hungry male!

[Gina]

he should agree to sign off on all the money he could make in the media to jaycee and the girls.

[Keli]

I wonder why he didn't hire a lawyer to locate Terry Probyn and demand a paternity test when he found out she had the baby so he could have provided child support? Such a pathetic attempt to get into the spotlight. I don't even think her "real dad" Carl Probyn has even seen her yet. It's one thing to make the request and quite another to threaten legal action if you don't get your way. Jaycee is an adult. She's already had one power-hungry forceful male in her life. I don't think she would be interested in another.

[Jerry]

"I have had many nightmares over the years wondering if I could have done more to find Susan and the baby," Slayton said through tears. "Now that she has been found, I want her to know that our hearts are open to her and we long to be the loving, supportive and normal family to her and her children that she has not had for 18 years."

And there ya'go folks, another "loving" father represented by who else....WOW!!!!

[Lisa Sparks]

Where was he when Jaycee kidnapped 18 years ago? He didnt come forward then to help search for her...Why now? Im sure he had to have read about it!

[Nancy]

I think Mr. Slayton has the right idea. How would you feel, finding out you have a child, never been asked to be part of her life, and then hearing of all the misfortune she has been through? He is willing to take a paternity test to prove he's not a fake, and I'm sure he's willing to contribute to her.

[Nancy]

Why is everyone being so mean??

[Laura]

He always wanted to be a part of her life but had no way to find her mom, even after the FBI came to him 18 years ago to enlist his help in the search?

If he believes he is the dad, the selfless thing to do would be to tell the FBI he had left a DNA sample at local lab that provides DNA matching analysis, with instructions that the Dugard family had the right to it if they wanted to perform their own private test, at the facility of their choice, with no obligation to him to provide him the results. Just to set HER mind at ease, if she needed that.

That, along with a big donation to her trust fund, would have gone a long way towards proving that he is putting her needs ahead of his own desire for answers.

He says he wants nothing from her, but he doesn't say he wants to help provide for her, his own flesh and blood.

Sounds like he has always been idly curious about this kid, but not enough to get involved in her life, even when he had the opportunity. Now that the kid is a heart-tugging story, he is getting all sentimental and wants to hug that sweet girl. Sounds like a very selfish regard. I hope her family has the sense to ignore this vulture.

[Gretchen]

The father should be allowed to see his daughter it is not his fault that he was never told by the mother!!!! My husband is forced to pay support for a child that is not his because the mother lied. Now our children suffer because of this women's lies and her son also suffers because he will be forever looking for his real father!!!! A man has the right to know his child and be involved in their life but he did pick the wrong attorney she is a snake!!!

[chime]

Well, this man changes his story every now and then, when he was first interviewed weeks early when Jaycee was found, he said he had a 2 weeks fling with Jaycee mother and Jaycee mother told him Jaycee was his daughter. NOW he claim he has a 1 month fling with Terry and it's a friend who saw the baby told him the baby look like him....LOL

Why didn't he hire a lawyer or contact terry then ???
Why didn't he had a press conference and do something a lawyer when FBI shown up at his doorstep 18 years ago and informed him that his daughter Jaycee was missing??
Matter of fact he did not bothered was not involved in the search. Where was he all these years when Jaycee was born till she was 11 years old and kidnapped?

Terry Probyn and Jaycee step-father Carl Probyn are the ones who have cared for Jaycee!!

[Sandy Beach]

He dated the mom for a month in 1979,and what month would that be.Get a life loser.Just another money grubbing scum looking for rights for when the movie comes out.Its all about the Deniro's and Not Robert either

[kwmcbride]

Oh, Jaycee, bring me back into your life and a piece of your estate (teary eyed). But if you refuse, I'll force my way back in. -Ken Slayton (paraphrased, of course)

[lg]

"may take legal action" How is that comaptible with "He wants nothing from her" and "What they really want to do is love her."
I hope there is no way he can legally force a 29 year old (or her children) to take a paternity test.