In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives
who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
Amber! Where the hell are you?
Good thing I like slowpokes.
Hey.
You seeing anything?
No, it's late, the mothers are going in,
I don't think our guy's gonna show.
No, he groped ten women in the last six weeks.
Do you think he's just gonna stop now?
It's getting colder.
It's hard to cop a feel through a heavy coat.
Maybe he goes south for the winter.
Oh, come on.
Hey! Where'd you go?
Where are you?
Is that our guy?
Whoever it is, he's not right.
Not ready? Amber!
It's a jackhammer!
Hey, what the hell is your problem?
Everybody, back up. Back up, back up. Sir!
Police. Don't even think about it.
Put it down. Back up. Let's get some room here. Back up.
Rollins.
Oh, God.
Hey, sir. Hey.
It's not funny.
You're such a bitch.
Who the hell you talking to?
My girlfriend, Amber.
She's right there. Make her stop.
He's hallucinating. He's burning up.
SVU portable to central K.
We got a 54 in the Meer.
We need a bus for transportation to LaGuardia psychiatric ASAP.
The psych ER?
Ugh, what for?
He has to be cleared by a shrink before we can book him.
The guy is not nuts.
He's having a bad trip. That's it.
Come on, you can tell the difference
between a chemical wig-out and a psychotic break?
Yeah, I can.
Most of the time.
I grew up around both.
My sister had it rough, so...
We all come from something.
This won't take long.
Come on.
Captain Lee.
What's happening?
- Detective Rollins. - Hey, how ya doin'?
All right.
I just watched you two pinch the naked fish on YouTube.
2,000 hits.
Ready?
Any idea what he took?
Yeah, he was running around without any clothes on.
Collapsing, no tremors.
It could be PCP.
Probably.
We'll run a tox screen and see what happens.
Run an EKG and a CAT once he's stable.
He's all yours?
For now.
No need to babysit.
Why don't y'all go home? I got this.
- Sure? - Yeah.
Guess we'll see him at arraignment.
I'm sick.
Please, I need a doctor.
Soon as you get your EKG,
you're going straight to jail. Now shut up.
10-85. Patient eject.
Ward six. Need assistance.
Stay here. You move, I pound you.
Get away from me!
Get lost.
Shut the door.
Shut the door!
Somebody!
Hey!
Hey, help!
Rape! Rape!
Sync by Alex1969 www.addic7ed.com
Next case.
People versus Darren Bickford.
One count exposure, one count public lewdness.
How do you plead?
I saw a girl get raped last night.
- Not today. Counselor-- - Listen to me.
A girl was attacked.
I know what I saw.
I'm not making this up.
A guy was choking her.
I told the doctors, th-the guards,
now I'm telling you.
Are you the arresting officers?
Yes, Manhattan SVU, your honor.
And this is the first time we've heard anything about a rape.
Good, then you can investigate starting now.
With all due respect, ma'am,
the suspect was apprehended while masturbating publicly
under a drug-induced hallucination.
Was he seeing things when he witnessed the rape?
I would have no way of knowing, your honor.
Then don't speculate.
We'll reconvene in two weeks.
I expect to hear from the people
about the defendant's complaint at that time.
A girl got raped.
I swear I'm telling the truth.
What makes you think it was a rape?
She was on top of him, facing me--
- She was on top? - Yeah.
But his arm was around her neck, choking her.
Her eyes were shut tight.
She was crying.
What did she look like?
White girl, dark blonde hair.
Young. I-I don't know.
What about the doer?
You see his face?
No, she was blocking him.
He yelled, "get lost, shut the door!"
Did anybody else see this?
Like, maybe a guard?
I was, uh, on my own.
Look, she was trying to pull his arm from her neck, and...
She had a hospital bracelet and a-a-a--
a deep scar on the inside of her left arm.
She tried to killed herself.
There's plenty of suicide attempts in a psych ward.
Go back to LaGuardia, ward six.
She's real.
Keep your clothes on.
So we have a flasher who was hallucinating,
claims to have seen a girl raped at LaGuardia.
- Can't we farm this one out? - Not according to the judge.
This kid was high as a kite.
- Who says he saw anything at all? - The rape wasat?
Five hours after you busted him? He would have come down by then.
If there was a rape, yeah.
Why would he lie?
Public lewdness, first offense...
What's he looking at, a week of community service?
I don't think this guy premeditates or even thinks.
We have a description, we go to LaGuardia.
If the girl exists we find her.
We need to talk to you
about one of your female patients.
- Which one? - Well, we don't have a name.
But she's white, she's mid-20s, dark blonde hair.
She's got vertical scars on her forearm.
That's Gia Eskas. Oh, my God.
What's she being treated for?
Sorry, you know I can't answer that.
What's this about?
Well, we think she may have been raped last night.
What? By who?
We don't know.
That's why we need to talk to her.
You didn't get a report?
No.
But she had to be sedated last night.
Why?
- Is she lucid now? - She should be.
- I'll go in with you. - I'm sorry, doc.
It's a criminal investigation.
I got a hair.
The color matches our supposed victim.
You should find plenty.
Docs crash out here all the time
when they got patients on the ward.
Sleep's not the only thing going on here.
Cushion's covered in stains.
A quickie with a nurse isn't rape.
- Maybe that's what went down. - How would you know?
You left your prisoner unattended.
He was handcuffed to a wheelchair on a locked ward.
Look, I did vertical patrols in housing projects
for six years, I get it.
They expect you to have eyes in the back of your head.
85 call went down.
Patient going buck wild in ward six.
Attacked an officer and two nurses, all hands.
How many surveillance cameras are there on this floor?
There's two at the visitors' desk.
Let me, uh, get you the footage.
Who told you that?
If it was one of my fellow inmates,
you can't believe a word they say.
They're all crazy.
Is that a yes or a no?
Gia?
Will you please tell us?
- Did something happen last night? - There you are.
Mommy just brought me some ciggies, let's--
Bad time?
No, not at all.
Cagney and Lacey were just leaving.
Actually, Gia...
if we could have another minute with you,
we would appreciate it.
So, Gia, we heard that you were really, really upset last night.
To the point where you had to be sedated.
Why was that?
Uh, bad hair day.
Maybe it was a little more than that?
Who knows?
Uh, I'm working on finding my triggers.
That's why I'm here.
I was making a noose.
They caught me ripping my sheets.
Last time, I used a razor.
I'm a frequent flier, you'd think I'd get it right by now.
So this isn't the first time you've been here?
Some girls travel or go to college to get away.
Me, I vacation at LaGuardia psychiatric.
Let's go back to last night.
You recognize this guy?
You know, uh, they upped my meds.
So everything's a bit fuzzy.
He said he saw you get raped.
Yeah, well, I think I'd remember if I'd been raped.
Gia, if you're worried or afraid, we can protect you.
From who? Myself?
Gia...
the best way to make this go away is with a rape kit.
A rape kit?
Yeah.
What happens if you find something?
Will we?
So if I do it, will you let me, uh...
will you leave me alone?
She wants us to do the rape kit.
She knows we'll find proof.
Of what? Sex?
Patients get it on with each other all the time.
She shows classic signs of assault.
Hypervigilance, fear, denial--
All of which could be symptoms of her mental illness.
Well, Gia thinks that nobody will believe her.
I think she's right.
No, I'm not saying she's a liar.
Gia is not even saying she was raped.
And she--she could be dissociative, delusional.
I mean, we don't know what kind of meds she's on.
But if she was raped,
it's going to be hard as hell to get anybody to believe her.
Which makes her the perfect target.
She told you she wasn't attacked?
Do you believe her or your witness?
Well, she did agree to a rape kit.
I think that she wants us to find something
without having to admit it.
I understand denial, detective.
And obviously, if something did happen to her,
I want to know.
All right, Gia's housed in a locked ward, right?
Who has access?
Employees, other patients.
Any issues with the staff?
Our patient population is vulnerable,
so every hire is vetted, and there have been no accusations.
So what about the other patients?
Anybody here with a record of sexual assault?
No, we run exhaustive criminal background checks.
How about visitors?
I'll check, but I don't think so.
Her mother comes on weekends, and she's Gia's only visitor.
Well, even so, we'll need a list of everyone
who was on the ward on Monday night.
Of course. Now, if you'll excuse me--
Also, it would be a great help
if we could see Gia's medical records.
You know I can't give you those.
At least give us your incident reports.
'Cause if Gia was raped, it was by someone on this floor.
I'll send you what I can.
Killing a lot of trees there.
You people ever hear of computers?
It's Gia's LaGuardia incident reports.
Suicide attempts, she flushes her meds, but nothing sexual.
What about the surveillance footage?
Of course the rape room was in the blind spot.
So Taru's going through the rest.
And our victim claims nothing happened to her?
Well, something happened.
Forensics are in on her rape kit.
They found sperm and other DNA from an unknown male.
Any bruising or signs of force?
Nothing recent.
But...
laceration scars and perianal tags.
Gia's been sodomized for years.
Or there could be a medical explanation.
I'm just--this is why we need her records.
That's a tough court order to get.
And if Gia is hiding chronic abuse,
she's not gonna give us access.
It might not be her call.
Considering Gia's psychiatric history,
I'm betting her mom is her legal guardian.
You think my daughter was raped,
and she says she wasn't?
That's funny, it's usually the other way around.
You're saying she's made rape accusations before?
First time, she was 14.
Just after her father was diagnosed
with schizophrenia.
She accused his doctor,
a neighbor, a male teacher.
The school nurse told me it may have been a way of coping
with the loss of her father.
Oh, uh...
do you mind? I have some soup
on the stove in my apartment.
My sister's on a restricted diet.
Where's Gia's father?
Four winds.
Mental illness runs in his family.
And he's been there for how long?
The last ten years.
Did you ever call the police
after Gia told you she was raped?
At first I was going to.
But then Gia admitted she just made it up.
A lot of victims recant, Mrs. Eskas.
Did you ever get the sense that something
really did happen to your daughter?
Gia was sick.
Like her father.
I did the best I could.
Nobody's blaming you.
As Gia gets older, it's only gotten worse.
She takes her meds, and then she stops
because she thinks she's cured.
She self-medicates with drugs and alcohol.
She told me once she wants me to find her body.
Sometimes I think my daughter hates me.
I can get you her records if you want.
It'll take you a while to get through them.
It's been a tough road.
She's got a history of false accusations, of recanting.
She doesn't admit to being raped, I mean--
if you want to call the DA, good luck.
Look, just because a case isn't winnable
doesn't mean we stop investigating.
- I'm not saying that-- - Officers?
Everything okay?
Did something happen to my sister?
She's fine.
Gia.
What now?
I just tried to visit her.
At LaGuardia?
- When? - Monday.
I was there for minor surgery.
I brought her flowers before I was admitted.
But she wasn't in the mood for guests?
No, she was in one of her--
- Um, she's sweet but dramatic. - She's troubled.
Sometimes she--she turns on the people who care for her.
So we've heard.
It must be hard, having her in your home.
We can't just abandon her.
My sister-- she's had so much loss.
- We're family. - Bella.
Bella, come inside.
I made soup for you.
Excuse us.
Detective Amaro, call it a night.
I think I've got something.
It's an incident involving Gia.
Couple days before the rape,
she got heated with another patient,
uh, Jay Delaney.
How heated?
Jay was shaking Gia like a rag doll.
An orderly got in the middle.
Jay busted his lip.
What was the argument about between you and Gia?
Nothing.
You shook her.
No, I-I didn't-- I didn't mean to.
I overreacted.
Um, c-can you--
can you come around here?
But I'm right here, Jay.
Do you wanna tell us what happened?
I--w-- I shouldn't have touched her.
I'm sorry about that.
You don't know how many times I've apologized.
Don't stand behind me!
My partner isn't doing anything, Jay.
He's not even touching you.
J--it's--I don't like it when I can't see you.
Okay, Jay?
So you wanna-- you wanna punch him?
- You wanna use those fists? - Leave me alone!
Jay, is this what happened with you and Gia?
Huh? Did you snap at her like this?
Yes--no!
- I--I didn't hurt her! - You're a big man, Jay.
You put your hands on somebody, it hurts.
I look out for her.
The only person Gia needs protection from is you.
No!
No! No!
I'm sorry!
I'm so sorry.
I didn't mean it.
Please let me go back to the hospital.
As long as you keep attacking cops, Jay,
that's not gonna happen anytime soon.
Maybe never, unless you tell us what you did to Gia.
What?
I was protecting her.
Okay, you're protecting her from who?
Um... a guard.
He makes girls go into empty rooms to--
to have sex with them.
What's the guard's name?
He'll come after me.
They have all the power there.
Listen, Jay. Jay.
Jay, look at me.
You want me to believe you, you gotta give me something.
Lee.
Okay, his name's Lee.
Charles Lee?
Yeah. Yeah, that's him.
Knock yourselves out.
I got nothing to hide.
You know me, fin.
Not enough to like you.
Okay, when's the last time you wore this uniform?
If this is about that rape, I'm not your man.
Really?
'Cause these stains right here on your zipper
might tell a different story, huh?
Let's go.
Before you say anything, I got something for you.
We should postpone this interview
until his lawyer arrives.
Listen to your union rep, Lee.
- Let's just wait. - I don't need to.
I haven't done anything wrong.
Having sex with a patient isn't wrong, it's consensual?
Who says I'm having sex? Jay?
He's so doped up, you can't trust a word he says.
Have a seat.
You made your rounds Monday night?
Wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't.
Now, having sex with those patients...
that's not part of your job, right?
Not a chance.
Anyone in a psychiatric institution
is incapable of consent. I know the law.
So if we find any of Gia's DNA on those pants of yours--
It wouldn't be from a rape.
That would be me doing my job.
You wanna run that by us again?
This is what I wanna talk to you about.
Tuesday night, the fruit loop--
Gia.
Yeah, who else?
Comes to me with those big eyes of hers.
Corners me in a stairwell, says she needs a gun.
Says she'll do anything for me if I can get her one.
Drops to her knees.
Blame the victim? That's your offer?
Okay, so slow down.
So she's attacking you.
Come on.
I could have stopped her, but I figure...
the girl wants a gun.
I have a responsibility to find out what she's planning.
What did you find out?
She wouldn't tell me.
Did you get her a gun?
Come on, like I'd give a loaded weapon to a squirrel.
What's going on here?
Ah, you're late to the party, counselor.
Your client has just been telling us
about his undercover work.
Trading sex for a gun with a LaGuardia patient.
I didn't give her a gun, and it wasn't sex.
It was just a BJ.
That's enough. We're done.
You'd better hope Bill Clinton
is serving on your jury.
Anybody buy that?
He confessed to sodomy. That's a start.
I mean, the guy is smarter than he looks, you know?
He fudged the timeline, fudged the sex act,
claims that she wants to get a gun from him.
It's his word against hers.
Unfortunately, we don't have her word.
What if he's telling the truth?
Jay told us that Gia and Lee
had been intimate before she was attacked.
Hold on.
There's no such thing as consensual sex with a patient.
No, I'm not arguing that. I'm just saying...
if someone else attacked Gia on Monday,
maybe she did go to Lee for a gun the next day.
I'm just saying it's possible.
He's lying.
It didn't happen. Nothing happened.
We took his pants from his locker.
They're running the DNA right now.
Gia, we know that you're angry
and afraid, but a gun?
That's not the answer.
Says the woman who carries one on her hip.
Yeah, and bad things have happened to me.
I've been stabbed.
I've been assaulted.
And my gun didn't save me.
I didn't know what else to do.
So yeah, I got on my knees,
and that son of a bitch Lee reneged.
I know that you were just trying to protect yourself.
From who?
It doesn't matter.
You won't believe me.
And nobody's ever believed me.
You're talking about your mother.
You told her you were raped, and she wouldn't believe you.
Crazy Gia.
Get her back on her meds.
Gia?
We believe you.
I believe you.
All it took was for someone to pay attention to me.
I mean, how pitiful is that?
He was interested in what I had to say.
I thought, finally...
someone sees me, you know?
Now I just wish I could disappear.
Who raped you?
My uncle... George.
Thought I was safe in here.
Then he got in and raped me again.
That's why I wanted a gun.
He's been raping you since you were 14.
Sometimes in his garage.
Uh, he has cameras,
a cot.
Sometimes in their bedroom.
He would pose me and, uh, take these photos.
You know the drill, right?
Said it would be our dirty little secret.
Did you ever tell your mom any of that?
Nah, the look on her face...
She wouldn't believe it.
See, George takes care of her.
So if, uh, she can't make the rent
or get groceries, he covers it.
So you--you falsely accused other men?
Because George Zane was family?
Uh, that's why I finally gave up
and just told my mom it never happened.
Gia, George Zane is going to prison.
He will never touch you again.
You can't promise me that.
Uh, in the real world,
he's sane, and I'm not.
This is going to be an uphill battle.
That's why we do it.
You told Gia that you were assaulted?
Yeah.
Something happened to me on the job.
It was part of the reason why I had to leave.
Somebody you worked with?
Something not worth pursuing.
That's how they win.
We're not gonna let that happen to Gia.
This is from the night of the rape.
I found Gia's aunt Bella.
See? 8:00 P.M., dropping off flowers, like she said.
Yeah, George is not with her.
Keep going.
Hold on, stop. 8:30.
Could that be him?
Impersonating a doctor?
Well, he didn't sign in on the visitor log.
The only other way in is through key card access.
He must have lifted a badge off an employee.
Go over the key card logs.
Find out whose identity was swiped.
Then, go pick up uncle George.
Take the cold stuff first!
How many times do I have to tell you?
I'm sorry, Bella. You're right.
And don't bruise those bananas!
George Zane.
You're under arrest for the rape of Gia Eskas.
Wait, you're making a mistake.
Call a lawyer.
You tell them, Diane. Gia's doing it again!
It's not your sister's fault, Bella. It'll be okay.
Let him go.
My--my daughter's crazy.
No, don't-- don't do this, please.
You know what? That's probably exactly what Gia said
to your husband the first time he raped her.
Gia was a sweet girl in a bad situation.
Her father was falling apart.
Her mother was overwhelmed.
But she became very attached to me.
And I found myself attracted to her.
You think I don't know that I'm a cliche?
A middle-aged, married man in love
with a girl half my age.
What we have is real.
Yeah, I get that.
You're--you're in a tough spot, George.
I mean--
the heart wants
what the heart wants, right?
I tried to fight it.
I mean, she was a teenager.
I didn't touch her, not for a long time.
In fact, I think that's
why our relationship is so strong.
I was her first.
She was so shy... in her pink bra.
How long have you two been dating?
You mean, how long have we had sex?
I made us both wait until she was 17.
The legal age of consent.
I mean, it was you
with Gia in the on-call room, wasn't it?
Yeah.
That puts him in the room.
Nice work.
S-so we're clear,
why does Gia say your relationship is nonconsensual?
Th-that you've been raping her since she was 14?
The patient's mental illness is well-documented.
We'll just tell your DA--
Th-th-the truth is she's dramatic.
Gia can't live without me.
Uh, she's made threats to kill herself,
to hurt herself, all to--
all to get me to leave my wife,
which I can't do.
Bella has cancer.
That's why he impersonated a doctor to visit the girl.
He didn't want his sick wife to find out.
Show them the letter.
May I?
"George, I love you.
--Gia."
A rape victim wouldn't send her abuser a love note.
We're done here.
Is my client free to leave?
No, we have some facts to check, counselor.
Why don't you, uh, cool your heels for a while?
Thank you, George.
Good work.
That hump needs to be in LaGuardia's criminal wing.
Sick bastard really believes they're in love.
You think Gia actually wrote this letter?
He wouldn't have put it on the table if it wasn't real.
Well, George could have forced her to.
A trophy to make his twisted little fantasy seem real.
Even so, the defense could argue that the letter
proves their prior relationship,
that Gia lured George in by invitation.
I don't want this prick to slip out of this.
Go back and talk to Gia.
See if she spoke to anybody else.
Detectives.
How can we help you?
Tell them, Diane, about your daughter,
how she's out of her mind.
One of the symptoms of Gia's mental illness
is she makes things up.
Well, she's not making up being raped.
Well, this isn't the first time that she's accused George.
Ten years ago was the first.
Tell them the whole thing.
Gia was upset about her father being sick, and...
she was acting out.
She accused George of raping her.
Which was a lie!
Mrs. Eskas...
George just confessed to a consensual sexual affair
with your daughter.
- What? - That's impossible!
He said it's been going on for ten years...
Well, you're-- you're lying!
You're putting words in his mouth!
This is not true.
That it started when she was a teenager.
No, no. It can't be--
He says he was her first.
He told us about her pink bra.
He says they're in love.
Okay, I won't even listen to this.
I want to see George.
He's in custody.
Well, then, we're leaving right now.
Diane?
Diane, now!
So munch said that they both think George is a Saint.
Yeah.
But Gia's mother...
she's gotta know.
She just--she can't--
Talking to George before--
look, a guy like that, raping a girl,
in his own family over and over and--
Do you think I wanted to talk to him?
I wanted to tear his head off.
My old partner, he, uh...
there were a few times he came pretty close.
How do you handle it?
You do everything you can
to make sure he never sees the light of day again.
If he walks--
He won't.
He told you I'm in love with him?
Oh, you don't believe him, do you?
No, we just came here to ask you a few questions.
Yeah, like what?
Like, he produced this, Gia.
Ugh, he kept that?
I gave this to him when I was 12.
Oh, so he's gonna get away with it, right?
Gia, if he's gonna claim that this...
relationship was consensual,
then we need to sit down with you
and go over all the details that you can remember
to prove that he's lying.
I know you think, because you're in here,
no one's gonna believe you.
That ain't what this is.
Course not.
'Cause I make the perfect witness, right?
Gia, listen to me.
You're just like every other survivor
who has to tell their story over and over to get justice.
That's just the way it works.
But you're gonna get justice.
Does my mother know uncle George has been arrested?
She was there. Yeah.
Did she tell you I was crazy?
Do you blame her? I'd give up too.
Gia said that George made her pose for him.
He hung on to this all those years.
Think he kept any other trophies?
No cot, no cameras.
Pretty cleared out.
Everything's all in its place.
Well, no photos.
He must have cleared this place out the second he saw us.
Yeah. Hey, when did your husband, uh,
clean out the garage, Mrs. Zane?
I wouldn't know.
I've been recuperating from surgery.
Oh, sorry to hear about your cancer.
Cancer?
Well, she just had her gallbladder removed.
At LaGuardia?
Why?
There's plenty of good hospitals near here.
George wanted the best surgeon available.
So it was your husband's decision to go there?
Gia is crazy.
She made up the whole thing.
So you won't mind if we search the rest of the house.
Help yourselves.
His office is clear.
How about you?
Just photos of the Zanes' family vacation.
Nothing of Gia.
Well, he's not gonna leave pictures of Gia
someplace where his wife could find them, right?
No, but he is gonna keep them close
so he can get to them whenever he wants.
See, I told you.
Now, Diane and I have to
put everything back where it belongs.
What's that under your bed?
That's just George's toolbox.
Does he usually keep it underneath the bed?
Yep, it's always been there.
No, it hasn't.
Diane, of course it has.
No, it's never been there before.
Diane, stop it.
It's never been there.
I would know.
I've cleaned your house for 15 years.
It's a combination padlock.
Uh, when is your husband's birthday?
George's?
September 29th.
Mm-mm.
My sister's?
June 16th.
When is Gia's birthday?
Diane.
Come on!
4/24.
Bingo.
In her pink bra.
Just like George said.
You knew!
You knew, and you never said anything!
That is a fake!
He wouldn't.
Tell them. Tell them!
He is your husband.
It happened in your bed.
She's your niece!
We were a family!
How could you let this happen?
Oh, my God.
"On April 24, 2001."
On her 14th birthday.
Gia.
What have I--
oh, my God.
George Zane is looking at multiple counts
of sexual assault going back ten years.
That's 25 years for each count.
It's over, Gia. You're safe now.
He's never getting out.
Has your mom come to see you yet?
No.
And I don't want her to.
I mean, I know I'll have to forgive her
to move on, but...
not today.
You sound strong.
Dr. Whitmere warned me it's only temporary.
It's gonna be a long road back.
I'll probably screw it up.
No. No, you won't.
I know that it's hard to imagine right now,
but you survived the abuse, Gia.
You're gonna survive the recovery.
Sync by Alex1969 www.addic7ed.com