Based in Seattle, Richard Beck is a veteran police detective who has little sympathy for sex crime victims, believing that they are "asking for it". When he lets an accused rapist go free in exchange for information on a murder suspect, he is punished by being assigned to the Sex Crimes unit, where he must work alongside counselor Barbara McKee. Beck continues to disregard the seriousness of the job until he is raped by two male suspects, after which he starts to question his own attitudes about violence, women, and masculinity.
