Posts Tagged ‘embarrassment’

In 1977, 16-year-old Cathleen Crowell decided to cover a possible pregnancy with her foster parents by inventing a rape story. Too bad for 20-year-old Gary Dotson that he slightly resembled her fictional assailant. In 1979, with Crowell’s help, Illinois courts sentenced Dotson to 20–50 years.

By 1985, Crowell had become a deeply religious woman, desperate to make amends. Confessing her deception, she helped Dotson get released on bond, pending a new hearing. Then the guilt-ridden accuser and the man whose life she’d shattered made the rounds of network morning programs, ending with The CBS Morning News and Phyllis George, a one-time Miss America recently hired from CBS Sports.

George’s interview style fell somewhere between perky and giggly, and the uncomfortable guests probably were relieved to reach the wrap-up—until George playfully suggested they shake hands like two kids making up after a playground spat. They awkwardly complied. Then with all the stereotypical vivaciousness of a former Miss Texas, George added, “How about a hug?”

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