Sex Crimes

Sex Crimes: Then and Now

Sex Crimes Then
(first published as Sex Crimes)

As a front-line prosecutor and then as chief of the Special Victims Bureau in the Queens district attorney's office in New York City, Alice Vachss specialized in cases of rape, incest, and child sexual abuse. In Sex Crimes, the woman the press described as one of America's toughest prosecutors grippingly recounts her career and in the process offers a searing indictment of our justice system.

“My first lesson about sex crimes prosecution,” Vachss writes, “was that perpetrators were not the only enemy.”

Sex Crimes Then takes us on a nightmare ride through the dark side of the human soul. As Vachss makes frighteningly clear, rehabilitation rarely works with sex offenders, who are too often released to strike again. This impassioned book will shock and enrage readers as well as challenge them to demand change.

Sex Crimes Now


In an even better than the original spellbinding sequel, Sex Crimes Now finds Alice Vachss returning to prosecution—this time in a remote rural county. Still the same, she insists to a jury: "I don't have to prove motive. The motive for rape is rape," and battles a system hell-bent on freeing a monster.

Vachss urges us, “The victims I’ve worked with taught me that individuals want to believe that they are entitled to justice. My community taught me that, when the choice is clear-cut enough, so do entire counties.

We have become profoundly discouraged about whether we have such choices. My own experiences is that we do, if we are willing to pay the price.”

Praise for Sex Crimes Then and Now

Named a NY Times Notable Book of the Year when it was original published, Sex Crimes were emphatic:

“Alice Vachss has written an extraordinary book. It is the single best book about prosecuting sex crimes in America, period. As a prosecutor, Vachss has tried over one hundred felony rape and child abuse cases and she is not shy about describing a nightmare system where the bad guys are allowed to go free and the victims are victimized again, this time by the police, prosecutors, and courts.”
—Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy (Goodfellas), Casino

“Nobody knows rapists better than Alice Vachss. With this book she has scored a knockout.”
—Edna Buchanan, The Washington Post Book World

“An impassioned account of rape victims, the criminals who terrorize them, and the legal system that too often neglects them.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“A stark, passionate closing argument in Vachss’ broader case against the criminal justice system.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Did you ever read a verdict headline and wonder how justice went so far off the rails? Especially when the crimes involved sex? Alice Vachss JD used to lead the Special Victims Bureau in Queens, NY. This book shows how the machine worked — when it didn’t, why — and how creative she had to be to fight for victims. Especially when most of the justice system seems to care more about their careers than about justice.

Everyone should read this book. Even if you have never been the victim of interpersonal violence, or a crime involving sex, you need this glimpse into how the system works. You will never skim over the judge-and-attorney section of your ballot again. If you are cheerfully naive, this book will help you grow up. If you are checked out or indifferent, this book will make you show up.

And if you ever feel hopeless, as if there is no good in the world, no one willing to fight for the grievously wounded, no one able to make a difference…this book will inspire you.

When I read these books, I had a solid, empty career. These books were part of what connected me to my values, leading me to become a social worker later in life. I grew up learning how to be safe; these books helped me to be brave.

There is a world of ugly evil, and you will see it in these books — but you will also see a model of how to fight it, how to win, how to keep on fighting when you lose.”

– Amazon review