Jerry Hobbs, Wrongly Accused of Girls' Murders, To Sue Ill. Police After 5 Years in Jail

CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM/AP) Illinois man Jerry Hobbs plans to sue Lake County law enforcement officials after he spent five years in jail, wrongfully accused of murdering his daughter and another girl.

Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9, were found stabbed to death in Zion, Ill. on Mother's Day, 2005.  Jerry Hobbs, Laura's father, was charged with murdering both girls.

He was released in August after DNA evidence implicated another man.

According to CBS affiliate WBBM, the lawsuit states that police officers physically assaulted and psychologically abused Hobbs until he succumbed to their demands to fabricate a confession to the murders.

Relying on the false confession, Lake County prosecutors subsequently sought the death penalty against Hobbs, and resisted pleas to release him for three years after DNA evidence failed to link him to the crime, according to the suit.

The suit seeks unspecified damages for the trauma inflicted on Hobbs, which he claims violated his civil rights.

Attention in the case is now focused on Jorge Torrez, 21, an ex-Marine and former Zion resident. His DNA has been linked to the crime scene, reports WBBM, which also says he was recently convicted of kidnapping and raping a college student in Virginia.