Victim sues DOC in rape at South Bend Walgreens

4-10-2012 Indiana:

A woman who was raped in a Walgreens bathroom last year has sued the Indiana Department of Correction for mistakenly releasing the rapist from prison just days before he committed the crime.

The woman, named Jane Doe in court documents, alleges that prison officials failed to notice that Robert Kemp Jr. had an outstanding arrest warrant when they released him on parole on Dec. 29, 2010, after he completed his sentence for another crime.

Three days later, Kemp attacked the woman at Walgreens on Lincoln Way East, where she was working.

"The Department of Correction has a duty to all the residents of the state of Indiana to keep dangerous people away if they're supposed to be locked up," said the woman's attorney, Stan Wruble. "The state certainly would be negligent if they opened all the prisons and let everyone walk away. They are likewise negligent if they mistakenly let someone get out early."

Kemp was convicted last summer and is serving a 130-year prison sentence.

The woman is also seeking unspecified damages from the state of Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels, Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Walgreens Co. and Kemp.

All court documents related to the case are sealed from the public to protect the woman's identity. The lawsuit was filed in July. ..For the rst of the story: by MARY KATE MALONE