SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Phillip Garrido has contacted a Sacramento television station to express concerns about the legal rights of the woman he is charged with kidnapping 18 years ago, raping and hiding in the backyard of his home.

In a letter addressed to a KCRA anchorman and dated Sept. 29, Garrido wrote that Jaycee Dugard "has been repeatedly denied access to have an attorney present during questioning," the station reported Wednesday.

"Over and over she clearly expressed this request from the beginning to the conclusion of questioning," Garrido wrote. "Her civil rights have been clearly violated."

A spokesman for the El Dorado County jail, where Garrido is being held, said the letter appears authentic.

Dugard's stepfather, Carl Probyn, told KCRA that the letter "sounds stupid."

"He violated her rights. We've got her back," Probyn said

An El Dorado County prosecutor said Garrido has been following
coverage of the case from jail, where he has access to a television
and newspapers.

A spokesman for the Sheriff's Department, which has been speaking with Dugard since she resurfaced, did not immediately respond to a telephone call seeking comment.

McGregor Scott, a former U.S. chief prosecutor who was retained to represent Dugard last week, would not comment on Garrido's statement.

The anchorman, Walt Gray, tried to visit Garrido in jail for a follow-up interview, but Garrido refused to see him without his defense lawyer present.

The lawyer, public defender Susan Gellman, said she had counseled her client not to speak with the news media and that she would strongly reiterate that advice.