The Nation : Dotson Arrested 2 Days After His Parole

Gary Dotson, the convicted rapist who was released from prison when his victim recanted, was arrested for the sixth time since his sentence was commuted in 1985 and two days after being given a “last-chance” parole by Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson, police said. Dotson, 30, was arrested in a Calumet City, Ill., restaurant and tavern on misdemeanor charges of battery, theft and disorderly conduct, said police officer Clyde Butcher. “He ordered some food in the restaurant section of the lounge, and there was some sort of altercation after it came to the table,” Butcher said. Dotson was released from the Dixon Correctional Center--where he was serving a sentence for parole violations--by Thompson, who warned Dotson that if he violated parole again he would have to serve the remainder of his original sentence of 25- to 50-years in prison for rape. A Thompson spokesman said that if Dotson is found guilty of a parole violation, he could be returned to prison until October, 2003. The earliest he could be released would be October of next year, the spokesman said.