I have been doing some more research regarding the veracity of the SacBee article. Here is the conclusion I have arrived at:
Both The SacBee and The Contra Costa Times were lied to by Gordon Hinkle, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, regarding the activities of Garrido's parole agent in general, and specifically regarding the afternoon of August 26th.
Here is what the Contra Costa Times reported:
""Garrido was on lifetime parole, subject to routine home checks and GPS monitoring, according to Gordon Hinkle, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He wore a GPS anklet since late 2007, as the state requires all paroled sex offenders to do under Jessica's Law, which passed in 2006.
Hinkle said Friday that Phillip Garrido's parole officer visited the Antioch house about twice a month and had entered the backyard, but never saw any signs of the compound that held Jaycee Dugard or their children behind a fence, or even any indication of children living there.
"There were no signs of toys, kids' bowls or plates, games. No indication there were kids there," Hinkle said.
Hinkle said the parole agent, who was assigned to Garrido since last December, visited the Antioch house on Tuesday, after receiving word from UC Berkeley police that Garrido was spotted with the two girls trying to hand out religious literature on campus.
Apparently there was no one home, Hinkle said, so the agent called Garrido into his office the next day. He arrived with his wife, Nancy, the two children and Dugard, who went by "Allissa." For a few hours, Hinkle said, Garrido remained vague about their relationship.
The agent had never seen the girls, so he was confused by their accompanying him to the parole office, Hinkle said."
The above sentence tells us that what Hinkle is saying is not true. We already know that Jacobs from UCBerkeley had mentioned the 'kids' to the parole agent. The parole agent was lucky the kids were there.
""(Garrido) was evasive for several hours. They separated the girls from Garrido. A lot of stuff was not adding up," he said.
The agent called in Concord police, who teased out the relationship from both Dugard and Garrido.
Hinkle said he didn"t know when, before Tuesday, the parole agent last visited the house or the backyard, but said the fence separating the yard from the compound where Dugard and the girls lived "appeared to be the property line. You'd never know there was an additional yard.""
So, we know that Hinkle is not being totally upfront with anything he has to say about his parole agency.
Contra Costa sheriff admits missed opportunities to rescue Jaycee Dugard
Contra Costa Times
And, in a CNN article:
"Hinkle said the officer who flushed out Garrido's alleged crimes had only been supervising him since December. When the officer learned from campus police that Garrido had 11- and 15-year-old girls in tow while proselytizing at the University of California-Berkeley, he called Garrido in for a meeting.
Garrido arrived with his wife, Dugard and the two girls. Hinkle would not provide details of the conversation -- it could affect the investigation and prosecution, he said -- but he did say Garrido and his wife were not forthcoming about Dugard's and the girls' identities.
It was
the parole officer's diligence that ultimately yielded the Garridos' arrest and Dugard and her daughters' freedom.
Said Hinkle, "They were coming in being elusive and deceptive about their identities, and the agent would not let go.""
Experts: Monitoring tools failed to unearth Garrido's secret
CNN
So, it seems, at the very least that both CC Times and SacBee bought into Hinkle's 'story'.