Distraught Dotson Back Behind Bars : ‘Not Surprised’ by Judge’s Ruling on Recanted Rape Story

A distraught Gary Dotson, saying he was not surprised by a judge’s decision to send him back to prison, today resumed serving a 25- to 50-year rape sentence after the judge refused to believe a woman’s story that she lied six years ago when she accused him of raping her.

Meanwhile, Cathleen Crowell Webb challenged the court system to try her for perjury if it didn’t believe her new testimony that the rape never occurred.

Dotson, 28, who had been freed briefly on bond after serving six years of his sentence, arrived at 8:30 a.m. at the Joliet Correctional Center about 30 miles southwest of Chicago.

In Need of Counseling

Dotson met immediately with prison Warden J. W. Fairman, and it was decided that he would be taken to the prison hospital to talk with a psychologist or psychiatrist.

“He is distraught,” said Nick Howell, a spokesman for the Illinois Corrections Department. “It’s a pretty emotional situation.”

Webb said in an interview today that “I feel the court system did a great injustice to Gary Dotson by sending him back to prison.”

She said, “It wasn’t just my testimony but the testimony of six other alibi witnesses to prove his innocence.

“And I’d like to see the court try me now (for perjury) and the other six witnesses. I’d like to see a jury of my peers hear the truth.”

Gov. James R. Thompson said his office had received a phone call from a Dotson relative seeking help to free Dotson. However, Thompson said, “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to go outside the normal channels” on behalf of Dotson.

Didn’t Believe Story

Circuit Judge Richard Samuels, saying he did not believe that Webb fabricated a 1979 rape charge because she feared she was pregnant and wanted to prevent her foster parents from learning she had had sex with a boyfriend, refused Thursday to free Dotson (Story, Page 10).

In an interview in the Chicago Sun-Times today, Dotson said: “I’m not surprised about what happened to me. I’ve done some research on what has happened in the past with recanted testimony. I learned that never in the state of Illinois has anyone been freed from jail based on recanted testimony. . . .

“I certainly appreciate what Cathleen did and I appreciate it even more now after what she’s had to go through in this court hearing. My heart goes out to her and I want to be her friend. And I know she wants to me my friend.”

Webb, who now lives in Jaffrey, N. H., said on ABC-TV’s “Nightline”: “I lied (in 1979), evidently too convincingly. . . . I regret deeply that it took me six years to come forward. . . . Prior to my decision to become a Christian I didn’t have a conscience about this.”