Convicted Rapist Dotson Moved to Safer Prison

CHICAGO —  Gary Dotson, sent back to prison on a rape sentence after a judge rejected a woman’s testimony that she was not really raped, has been moved to a different prison because of fears that his fame might make him a target of violence, authorities said Saturday.

Meanwhile, the judge who upheld the rape conviction last week said he is sorry for Dotson and his family but had to do what he thought was right.

Dotson, 28, whose first week of freedom in six years ended Thursday in the courtroom of Circuit Judge Richard L. Samuels, was moved Friday night from Joliet Correctional Center to a smaller prison at Dixon, 70 miles northwest, where he can have a cell to himself.

Samuels had freed Dotson on $10,000 cash bond while his case was being decided. He refused Thursday to reverse the conviction on the basis of recanted testimony by Cathleen Crowell Webb. She testified she made up the story of being raped that sent Dotson to prison because she had sex with a boyfriend as a teen-ager and was afraid she might be pregnant.

At the Dotson family home in suburban Country Club Hills, scores of callers offered support, and a petition drive to urge Gov. James R. Thompson to free him was gaining momentum, said his sister, Laura Dotson, 22.

Dotson, described as distraught on his arrival at Joliet on Friday, was doing fine Saturday at Dixon Correctional Center, spokesman Nic Howell said.

Michael Lane, state corrections director, said: “Prisoners have attempted to become more famous by taking the life of a famous prisoner. It best served his interests to be taken to a smaller and different prison.”

The judge said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times that Dotson and his family were “obviously under the mistaken impression the campaign they waged in the media would be sufficient to gain his release.”

“I really don’t want to fault the family,” said Samuels, who imposed Dotson’s 25- to 50-year sentence after a conviction in 1979.