Dotson’s Parole Revoked After Wife-Beating Charge

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board today revoked the parole of convicted rapist Gary Dotson, who was released from prison two years ago when his victim recanted the charge.

A three-member review panel issued the revocation after a 10-minute hearing, determining that Dotson violated terms of his three-year parole when he was arrested Aug. 2 on a battery charge filed by his wife.

Dotson, 30, who has been held in Cook County Jail since his arrest, was ordered to serve the rest of his parole term, about nine months, in an Illinois penal institution.

More Time Possible

Gov. James R. Thompson also could determine that Dotson should serve the remainder of the 25- to 50-year prison sentence that was commuted after a New Hampshire woman recanted the rape charge, review board spokesman Kent Steinkamp said.

Cathleen Crowell Webb, a “born-again” Christian and former Chicago-area resident who moved to New Hampshire, married and started a family, said guilt compelled her to recant. She said she accused Dotson of rape because she feared she was pregnant by another man. She was not.

“He will be returned to the Department of Corrections to begin serving whatever time he has left,” Steinkamp said.

Dotson spent six years at the Pontiac Correctional Center on the rape conviction until the governor commuted his sentence after a highly publicized clemency hearing. Thompson said he did not believe Dotson was innocent but that he had served sufficient time for the crime.

Five Other Arrests

Since his release, Dotson has been arrested five times, including a drunk-driving arrest in January.

Dotson’s most recent arrest, on the misdemeanor battery charge, occurred after his wife told police Dotson struck her after he had been drinking and threatened to harm the couple’s young daughter.

That charge, however, was dropped a week ago after she refused to testify against her husband.

The review board, however, was not bound by the prosecutor’s decision to drop the charge and was entitled to look at the facts surrounding the arrest.

Dotson’s lawyer, Thomas Breen, could not be reached for comment on the review panel’s action.