The insatiable appetite for true crime drama continues, driving streaming platforms to find new and uncovered stories.
It is hard to define why viewers tune in to these often disturbing and shocking shows. Perhaps it’s a need to see justice delivered to the perpetrators, or maybe it gives viewers a chance to look into the hidden world of investigation and detective work. For some, it may be a sense of relief that, after looking into a world of horror, they can say, “At least it wasn’t me.”
The popularity of horror films might offer some sense of reasoning. We enjoy the scares and the horror as long as, at the end of it, we can walk away safe, knowing that the events were kept at a safe distance, and we can switch our devices to standby and forget they happened.
With true crime, though, the reality of the situation adds a new layer. True horrific crimes, committed often in places we know, or live in, blurred by the reconstructions or testimony from those there, were brought to our attention and examined. Sometimes, there is no third-act reveal or bow-tied conclusion, leaving us often shaken and anxious.
It makes you wonder why they are still so well-watched. They have an audience, and as long as that is true, there will always be documentaries like the Netflix feature Victim/Suspect.
This article examines a journalist that has sparked discussion amongst true crime fans. Who Is Rae de Leon, and where is she now?
Who is Rae de Leon?
Rachel “Rae” de Leon is an investigative journalist. Rae’s LinkedIn profile states she “reports and produces hard-hitting, investigative news pieces centered around police accountability and violence against women and marginalized genders.”
The journalist studied at the University of California in Berkeley and then at the California State University-Northridge, acquiring her Batchelor’s in journalism.
Where is Rae de Leon now?
Rae is a reporter and producer at Reveal from The Centre for Investigative Reporting.
What does Rae de Leon do?
Rae is a hard-working and driven investigative journalist. She uses her skills to dive into a world of cover-ups and conspiracy involving assaults against women and the treatment the women would receive from the authorities when they tried to report the crimes against them.
Her investigations would become the focus of a feature-length Netflix documentary, Victim/Suspect.
Rae presents the disturbing evidence that women are being charged with filing false claims, and their cases would go unanswered.
Her finely tuned attention to the tapes of the women being questioned, along with transcripts and personal testimony from those involved, would lead to her uncovering a terrible truth about how such cases were handled.
How does Rae de Leon carry out her investigative journalism?
The following is the official synopsis of Victim/Suspect.
“When a journalist digs into a case of a woman charged with falsely reporting a rape, a pattern emerges: authorities turning the tables on victims.”
This would be her first solo investigation and shows the journalist at work, finding first-hand accounts from many women involved in horrific situations and interviews with police and legal experts.
The documentary also sees Rae de Leon uncovering a breadth of evidence from the initial police investigations, including disturbing recordings of police using coercive tactics to question the women’s experiences, pressuring them to withdraw their claims and eventually charging them with falsifying police reports.
I am impressed with your work. Thank you. So many things I admire in how you handle the case.
Congratulations to you Rae de Leon for your professionalism and for your dedication to this storey on Netflix called Victim / Suspect that took you 4 years. I commend you for exposing some failings within the Police Department that allow young woman who are very inexperienced and extremely naive to be treated in such a manner. Police Departments are there to Serve and Protect Victims of crime ! Thank you for all your hard work on this extremely important story I applaud you ????
First, i want to thank this Journalist for doing this story. This had to be told, we must STOP, Turning Victims into Suspects.
I was a police officer for 28 yrs ending in 2016. I always did my best to help all the Victims in all my files.
Thanks for caring.
Rae.
YOU ARE A HERO – IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. WHAT FANTASTIC AND BRAVE WORK YOU DO. KEEP AT IT. YOU HAVE TOUCHED THE LIVES OF SO MANY WHO MUST HAVE FELT HELPLESS. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR GREAT GREAT WORK.
I like documentaries and my son is coursing his 3rd quarter in journalism, he’s passionate about sports but I keep telling him to have an opened mind, anyhow, as I was scrolling thru Netflix and saw the description of Victim/Suspect it just caught my attention and boy am I glad to have watched it! I’ve been bawling the last half an hour, I consider myself blessed to never have had anyone close to me suffer a sexual assault, at least that I know of, but the way Rae’s investigation brings light to such a sensitive topic was masterful, thank you for all your hard work, going up against figures of authority is never easy but it has to be done for the sake of the victims.
Thank you Rae de Leon, thank you for all you do for those girls victims and corrupt cops protecting Friends, Mafias, bosses. FBI should start an investigation against those cops, for sure, they will find under table money, líes, corruption, etc. My hero you are.