Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

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.

In my younger and more vulnerable years,

when I was knee-deep in my very first trial,

opposing counsel unwittingly sabotaged his own case

by including an inculpatory document

in with his discovery request.

I didn't know what to do.

So I did what any young ADA did when he was utterly lost.

I went to Mr. Stone's cubicle

where he was writing a closing.

Ben listened patiently.

"I can either ignore," I said, "or..."

And he cut me off before I could finish the sentence.

"A man shouldn't do what he can," he said.

"He should do what he must, without regard for consequence

"or repercussion.

That's what makes us moral," Ben added.

"And God help us if we lose that."

So, like that, the world is a sadder place.

The noblest of hearts has cracked.

Goodbye, Ben Stone.

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Thank you, District Attorney McCoy.

If anyone else wishes to speak...

Sandy?

I can't wait to show you this dress I bought.

I'm scared it's a little bit much.

Sandy?

Sandy!

I live down the hall with my parents.

I babysit whenever Maggie needs me to.

I can't believe Aaron would do this.

Now, did... did Aaron say anything to you?

Just that he would kill me if I screamed.

He pointed a gun at me.

- I thought I was going to die. - Okay.

You're gonna find Drew, right?

We are gonna do the best we can, okay, honey?

Typical Tuesday afternoon.

The mom goes out to get her nails done,

shopping, whatnot, and the dad comes home early,

and duct tapes the sitter, shuts her in a closet,

and then runs off with ten-month-old, uh,

baby Drew.

- Where's mom? - Uh, she's right here.

Margaret Householder.

- Her friends call her Maggie. - Okay.

- What are you gonna do? - Ok... okay, Mrs. Householder,

this is my boss, Lieutenant Benson.

Okay, how about... how about we get you something to drink?

If you're not too busy, I'd like you to find my son.

I assure you we will do everything we can

to find your son.

We have been seeing a lot of... of these sorts of cases.

Familial kidnappings.

But the good news is, Mrs. Householder,

that your husband will most likely not hurt your son.

All due respect, but you don't know

a damn thing about my son.

It is only a matter of time

before he cannot breathe without that thing.

We need to find him soon.

This is an emergency!

He's going to die, Lieutenant.

When he was two months old,

Aaron noticed that he was struggling to breathe.

It's called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome.

It's a genetic thing.

It causes muscle weakness that rapidly progresses.

So soon Drew won't be able to breathe on his own.

I spend more time at Mercy Hospital than I do at home.

Uh...

Maggie, I just have to ask you, were, um...

Were you and Aaron having any problems?

Not that I knew of.

Maggie, I know that this doesn't help,

and I hate myself for even saying it,

but, um...

Have a seat.

I have actually been through this.

My son was taken.

- And you got him back. - I did.

Safe and sound.

The neighbor says he's sure he saw Mr. Householder

and the baby get into a blue Toyota

around 12:30 yesterday.

We don't have a car.

I'll check the rental companies.

Okay.

- Aaron Householder. - He had an infant with him?

- Like a year old. - Okay, well, thank you.

If anyone checks in fitting that description...

- 2535... That's right, 212. - Okay, any luck?

All we know is he returned a rental car to Sheepshead Bay.

Okay, so work backwards,

looking for any calls he made to Sheepshead Bay.

Already done. Nothing in the past month.

And he didn't check into any hotels or motels

within a ten mile radius.

At least not using his own name.

Nothing in his office suggests that he wasn't coming back.

Oh, here's something.

Two weeks ago, he charged about six grand

to a medical supply store.

- When did he rent the car? - Two days ago.

Okay, well, you can't just carry a ventilator

onto a subway.

And the store doesn't open till 10:00 a.m.

Okay, so track down the manager.

Believe me, it's not a problem.

This business, I get calls all hours.

If there's anything wrong with the ventilator...

No, it's nothing like that.

That's a relief.

What was that name again?

- Aaron Householder. - That's right.

All right, here we go.

He bought the Kerry 2100. Top of the line.

- Did you deliver that? - We did.

201 East Sixth Street, Sheepshead Bay.

You've been a big help, Mr. Cooke.

- I'm Lieutenant Benson. - Okay, Lieutenant.

Ah, yeah, he's in there. He's on the first floor.

- And he's not coming out. - And what about the baby?

- He says he's okay. - At least he's talking.

It was hard to get him to even turn his cell on.

- The back door's bolted. - Get him on the phone.

- Yeah. - Hello?

Yeah, Aaron, it's me, it's Amanda.

There's so many of them.

- I know, I know. - Tell them to back off.

But, Aaron, you know I can't do that.

But my... my boss Lieutenant Benson is here.

- She wants to talk with you. - Okay.

- Hey, Aaron. - Detective Benson.

You know, why don't you call me Olivia?

Uh, Olivia.

I spoke with... with Maggie.

- How is she? - Well...

I gotta be honest with you, Aaron, she's not doing great.

I didn't wanna hurt her.

Aaron, you took her baby.

I just wanna be alone with my son.

Yeah, well, you know, some days that's all I wanna do too,

but unfortunately the world just...

It just doesn't work like that.

- I got a shot. - Okay, no, guns down.

That's an order.

Aaron?

Aaron, listen to me.

How about you let me come in there, right?

And you and I...

I know that we can figure this out.

Face to face, okay?

The dude's got a gun.

Aaron.

I...

Okay, Aaron, what do you say?

Okay, okay.

You can come in, just you.

And no weapons.

Not a problem.

- Slowly. - Slowly. Yes, okay.

Okay, guys.

No, What do you think you're doing, Liv?

No, Liv, do not go in there.

Liv!

Okay.

I'm gonna take off my gloves.

Okay?

Aaron, I'm coming in.

You don't look like a cop.

Okay, well, I'll take that as a compliment.

Can I see Drew? He's sleeping.

I just wanna check and see if he's okay.

All right, nice and easy?

Okay?

Nice and easy.

Aww.

He's beautiful.

Can we sit down?

Okay.

You wanna sit as well?

You're the one with the gun.

Much better, right? Just...

Just two adults talking.

What's his name, your son?

Noah.

He's five.

I bet he... I bet he loves baseball.

I bet he and his dad go to the park and play catch.

See?

Drew is going to love baseball.

And we're... we're gonna go to Yankee Stadium.