The Nation - News from April 11, 1985

Results of new tests presented at a Chicago hearing reportedly cast doubt on an alleged rape victim’s recantation of testimony that sent a man to prison for six years. Cathleen Crowell Webb, 23, now of Jaffrey, N.H., testified last Thursday that she lied in 1977 when she accused Gary Dotson, 28, of rape. Webb, who said she concocted the story because she feared she was pregnant, testified last week she was only having sex with her boyfriend in July, 1977. Investigators said new tests indicate the blood and semen found on Webb in 1977 were not compatible with samples of blood and saliva provided by Webb’s former boyfriend. “The evidence shows a serious conflict in her current statements,” a prosecution source said.