LOS ANGELES -
Dec. 15, 2004 - Kerri Francis Dunn, the 40-year-old daughter of a retired
police officer, who holds a degree in law from University of Nebraska and who
taught classes in criminal justice and psychology at a California college, was
sentenced to one year in a California prison for falsely reporting that her car
was damaged in a campus hate crime. The incident was later exposed as a fraud
when two witnesses stepped forward to claim they saw Dunn vandalizing her car.
Dunn’s Honda
reportedly was sprayed with slurs about blacks and Jews on March 9, 2004 and
her tires were slashed. The suspected hate crime sparked widespread outrage by
blacks, Jews and other minorities and prompted the Claremont Colleges to cancel
classes for a day of anti-hate rallies.
Dunn was a
visiting psychology professor at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont,
California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
Following her
conviction by a jury in August 2005, Pomona Superior Court Judge Charles Horan
ordered Dunn to prison for 90 days of psychological evaluation to help him
decide on the sentence. Horan reportedly said a report from the prison
indicated that Dunn “remains utterly unrepentant and still insists she is a
victim.”
Pamela Gann,
president of Claremont McKenna College, reportedly sent a letter to the judge
calling Dunn’s actions a “depraved, public act,” and asking for $19,418 to cover
a portion of the campus financial losses. The university reportedly hired
professors to replace Dunn after she was placed on leave, paid for increased
security and even rented a car for Dunn.
Prior to the sentencing, Kerri Dunn’s father, a retired police officer, reportedly told the judge that his daughter was “caring and generous” and he begged the judge to have mercy on his daughter.
Judge Horan said
he believed the evidence against Professor Kerri Dunn is overwhelming
“What Dunn did,”
said Judge Horan prior to handing down the sentence, “was at least temporarily
terrorize minority students on campus and make suspects out of the rest.”
Judge Horan
reportedly encouraged Professor Dunn to seek treatment for her “mental
illnesses” while in prison.
Judge Horan also
ordered Dunn to pay Claremont McKenna College $19,000 in restitution. She will
likely serve about half of her one-year sentence before she is eligible for
parole.
Deputy District
Attorney Martin Bean said he thought the sentence was fair.