The relationship between crime and tort

Over at TortsProf Blog, Prof. Jason Solomon (University of Georgia School of Law) has posted an interesting short comment on the relationship between criminal law and torts using as an example claims by women against athletes for what would be considered "sexual assault" in criminal law. Among other things, he asks,"If the victim declines to complain to the police, or even if she had and the prosecutor declined to bring the case, shouldn’t that be the end of the matter? Is this the torts system run amok again, with a young woman seeing some deep pockets to go after?" and "What purpose do such lawsuits serve?." Go here to read the full comment.