Most New York City prosecutors’ offices rejected a greater percentage of sex crime cases in 2019, the last year for which reliable data is available, than they did roughly a decade earlier.
In the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors dropped 49% of sexual assault cases in 2019.
The low prosecution rate partly reflects the inherent challenges of prosecuting sexual assault, particularly cases like Duong’s, in which the attacker is not a stranger and alcohol is involved. For cases that are not dropped, conviction rates for sexual assault cases are typically much lower than for other violent crimes: 44% in Manhattan in 2019, compared with 79% for first-degree murder.
But some who study the matter believe the high drop rate also reflects prosecutors’ unwillingness to tackle those challenges.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has faced harsh criticism over his office’s handling of sex crimes.
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