Brooklyn's Jane Doe

“I have had the misfortune of being raped twice—once in the park and again in the media,” wrote “Jane Doe,” the victim of an infamous stranger rape in Brooklyn, New York. Two decades later, detective S. A. Mathers reopened Doe's case to bring her justice.

In April 1994, the horrific details of Jane Doe’s assault were widely covered by New York City newspapers following misleading information from NYPD officials to Pulitzer Prize-winning crime reporter Mike McAlary. Convinced that Doe, a queer woman of color, was fabricating her account for political amplification, McAlary launched a journalistic smear campaign against her. Permanent harm was done to Jane Doe, who was ridiculed and gaslighted publicly, and thus to all survivors who faced the silencing specter of being disbelieved. Twenty-three years later, as the lead investigator on the case, retired detective S. A. Mathers helped Doe achieve the apology and closure she had long desired when her case was finally allowed to be reopened and reinvestigated. Brooklyn’s Jane Doe tells her story and highlights the struggle for justice that so many survivors face.