Deputy District Attorney Rachel Cano says the department’s sex crimes and stalking division is not a place you wind up. You have to choose the job. “It’s not for everybody,” says Cano, who earlier spent years prosecuting sexual offenders in the juvenile division. “It’s always been an interesting field to me where I can do something to empower women,” says Cano.

A good day in the sex crimes division comes when victims are satisfied. Convictions are challenging, particularly when victims are prostitutes or drug addicts, says the Harvard Law School grad. She recalls a case in which prospective jurors opined that such victims should seek vigilante street justice rather than use the justice system. “That’s completely wrong,” says Cano, 39. “It’s very difficult to overcome that.”

Cano has taken an active role in community service including mentoring a teenage girl and serving on the board of the Lawyers Club of San Diego. “I prefer the hands on work,” says Cano. “I prefer going out and doing stuff and having someone else work on getting the funding donated.”

That preference hasn’t stopped Cano from orchestrating the annual San Diego Beer Festival for the past 10 years as a founding member and vice president of San Diego Professionals Against Cancer. The event — coming up again Sept. 23 — raises about $60,000. Cano became involved after her mother died of cancer. “A friend knew I liked beer and thought it would be a great combination to put on a beer festival to raise money for a charity,” she says.

Cano, who does still life oil painting in her spare time, lives Downtown with her boyfriend Reo Carr, editor in chief of The Daily Transcript, and her two 10-year-old Norwich Terriers, Lucy and Otto.