THE MARRIED COUPLE ACCUSED of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard when she was 11 years old has confessed to investigators, according to defence lawyers involved in their case.

Dugard was kidnapped close to her home in South Lake Tahoe in 1991 and held captive for 18 years.

A defence lawyer said that Nancy Garrido and her husband Phillip Garrido have given full confessions to the authorities, confirming that they abducted Dugard.

Nancy Garrido has pleaded not guilty to 18 charges including false imprisonment, rape, and child pornography. Her husband’s plea arraignment has been delayed until 17 March.

Discussions for a plea deal are ongoing and defence lawyers said prosecutors have most recently called for Phillip Garrido to serve 440 years and for Nancy to serve over 240 years.

Dugard testified behind closed doors several months ago and prosecutors are objecting to her testimony being made public before a plea deal is accepted or before the trial.

Dugard and the two daughters she bore during her captivity were discovered in August 2009 in a shed at the Garrido home. The girls, who were fathered by Phillip Garrido, were both teenagers when Dugard was found. She has since returned home, with her daughters, to her family and has written a book about her experiences.

- AP