Molly Mendoza for Reveal

Nicole Chase was a young mother with a six-year-old daughter to support when she was sexually assaulted by her boss while working at a restaurant in Canton, Connecticut. When she decided to report the attack, she knew she was risking a lot: her livelihood, in particular, but also the reputation she would build in her small, close-knit town.

What happened next surpassed even his worst fears. His case sparked a years-long legal battle, eventually reached the United States Supreme Court. Rather than treating her as a victim of sexual assault, police investigated Chase and charged her with making a false report to police. “This man made me lose so much money that I had to move,” Chase says. “I went to a doctor, had to take more medication for my post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety attacks and all that. My whole life was turned upside down.

Chase wasn’t alone. In this week’s episode, originally broadcast in March 2023, Reveal reporter Rachel de Leon investigates the worrying trend of interviewing victims rather than alleged perpetrators. Listen to the full episode on Revealand look Victim/Suspecta documentary on the investigation, on Netflix.