All language subtitles for Law.And.Order.SVU.S26E12.1080p.WEB.h264-ETHEL

.

- 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.

- Rough night.

- It was the best.

I tried molly for
the first time.

- Does she go to Alton Academy?

- Yeah, very funny.

But not a girl, idiot,
the drug.

- I've never done it.

- Oh, I have.
Honestly, it's pretty mid.

- Your lies are mid.

- This guy's been
full of crap

since he signed up
for acting class.

- [scoffs]

[phone buzzes]

- Yo, didn't we just see
you turn your phone in?

- Yeah, douche.

I have a second one.

- Yo, you remember
that Mathlete chick?

- From Ellsworth?

- She sent me
a picture of her boobs.

- Whoa, let me see.
- All right.

Easy, guys.
Calm down.

- Mr. Sanders.

- Uh...
- Who's a douche now?

- Hand it over.

[bell rings]

Sanders, my office.

- All right, who's up next
in the catch order?

- I am, Captain.

- All right, Silva,
you're driving.

- Where are we headed?

- Some kid at Harrington Prep

got caught with
an underage nude on his phone,

so let's go.

- We got two 16-year-olds
exchanging nudes.

It's not exactly a major crime.
- Yeah.

- And chances are,
all we're looking at

is a de minimis violation.
- Well, you're right.

I mean, some cases are
too small to prosecute,

but I don't think
this is one of them.

- You got a hunch?

- Look, when you showed up
at a homicide scene,

at least you had the benefit
of a dead body, right?

- Uh-huh.

- SVU is a more subtle art.

- Like I said on the phone,

whoever this girl is
sent the nude unsolicited.

- So he didn't even know
this girl?

- Says he met her once.
[phone rings]

Excuse me.

This is Headmaster Hobbs.

Ah, okay.
Sorry.

- All right, so what can you
tell us about this kid?

- Eli's smart,
from a good family.

- I've never seen
this app before.

- It's new.

It's called Ghost Letter,

erases the messages
every 12 hours.

- I would have been
all over that in high school.

His mother just showed.

- Well, let's talk to him.

- I told you, that girl
just sent her nude to me.

- You didn't do
anything wrong, honey.

- Well, your son got caught

with an underage nude
on his phone.

- This is ridiculous.
They're two teenagers.

Half the kids in the school

probably have underage nudes
on their phones.

- Well, they didn't get caught.
Eli did.

- Why don't you just
talk to this girl then,

tell her not to
text my son anymore?

- Don't worry, we will.

- Eli, what I'm trying
to understand,

what I'm trying to
wrap my head around,

is why a girl
that you hardly know

would send you a photo like
this, just out of the blue?

- I guess she just thought
I was cute at Math League.

- Math League?

- I didn't even want to do it
in the first place.

- Looks good on
a college application.

- All right, well,
we'll speak with her, then.

- What's the name of this girl?

- Leah.

I think she goes to
Ellsworth Academy.

- Mm-hmm.

- Can I have my phone back now?

- Don't you mean phones?

- Phones?
- Don't worry.

You'll get them both back
after we speak with Leah.

- OK, Ellsworth's about
a 10-minute walk from here.

- I don't think we can
embarrass the girl at school.

- I'll call them
and have them

get her parents
to pick her up.

- And have Bruno meet you there
and take her statement.

- Oh, where are you headed?

- I am going to have TARU see
if Eli is telling the truth.

And with any luck,

your de minimis case
will be solved by lunch.

- A topless selfie of me
was sent to a stranger?

- Wait, you didn't send it?

- No.
- Leah.

- Mom, I'm telling the truth.

- Why would she send that
to some boy she barely knows?

- Leah, you obviously
took this photo yourself.

- You must have
sent it to someone.

- When did you take it?

- Two months ago.

- This has been out there
for two months?

What were you thinking?

- I guess I wasn't.

He asked for it.

- Who's the he
in that sentence?

- Oliver Banks.

We go to the same school.

We don't really
talk much in person,

but he reached out on this app,
and we started texting.

But after I sent that photo,

he disappeared off
of Ghost Letter entirely.

- Ghost Letter?

- You know it?

- It's the same platform
used to send your photo

to the kid who got it
this morning.

- Is it possible
Oliver shared it?

- Benson said we'd be done
with this by lunch.

- So?
- She was wrong.

Yo, Oliver.

You know a girl
named Leah Hayward?

- I mean,
she's in my grade.

Uh, why?

- She said she sent you this
a couple months ago

on an app called Ghost Letter.

- You know about that app?

- Yeah, but I don't
have an account.

- Prove it.

- See, there's no Ghost Letter.

I wish I could talk
to a girl like that,

but there is no way
that Leah Hayward

would ever be into
a guy like me.

- So Leah says that she texted
Oliver, a kid in her class

that she had a crush on,
at Ellsworth Academy.

- The only problem is,
Oliver was shocked

that Leah even knew he exists.

- The kid never got the photo?

- TARU confirmed.

No nude photo of Leah,
and no Ghost Letter app

on Oliver's phone.

- So we know for a
fact that Oliver wasn't

involved in any of this.

- So then who sent Leah's photo

to Eli at Harrington Prep
this morning?

- Maybe there's
a simpler explanation.

- Like what?

- Someone who had
access to Leah's phone

sent it without her knowledge.

- TARU just got back.
They want us there ASAP.

- Let's go.

[tense music]

- We managed to get
into the account

of the Ghost Letter user
who posed as Oliver

a few months back.
- And?

- Whoever this guy is, he's got
60 other Ghost Letter accounts,

all pretending to be
a different student

in the Manhattan area.

- So all these kids
are trading nudes?

- With the same guy?

- He appears to be using them
as bait to get other students

to send nudes back.

- It's pretty organized,
if you ask me.

- What the hell
are we looking at?

- We're looking at a factory.

We just need to find out
who runs it.

[dramatic music]

.

- Ava Noonan, 16,
junior at Whitman Hall.

- TARU is working on the
rest of their identities.

- And I'm working on
notifying the parents

of the kids caught up in this.

- So how did he trick
these kids

into thinking they
were texting somebody

that they already knew?

- Well, it wouldn't
be hard for this perv

to scour their socials.

- But why only rich kids?

- Only from elite
private schools.

- All on the Upper East Side.

- It's a pretty
specific demographic.

- So what else
do they have in common?

- Other than they're
all on Ghost Letter

and their rich parents wouldn't
hesitate to sue our ass?

- Somebody knew enough
about each one of these kids

to impersonate them
on Ghost Letter.

Find out who.

- What do you mean you haven't
found who did this yet?

- We're working on it,
Mrs. Hayward.

- So my daughter's underage
nude is still out there

for the entire world to see?

- Mom, calm down.

- This could compromise you
getting into college.

Your entire future
could be in question.

- Mrs. Hayward--

- All you ever do is
talk about my future.

How about how I feel right now?

- You should have thought
about that

before you pressed send
on a nude of yourself!

We talked about this.

Your father and I warned you.

- You've gone full psycho!

- Leah, get back here!

- Mrs. Hayward.

Let's take a deep breath.

- We're going to
figure this out.

- That photo will be
out there forever.

- And we're going to
try and prevent that.

- Do you mind if I talk to her?

- Better you than me.

* *

[knocking]

- [sighs]

What?

- You know,
we're just trying to help.

- If you want to help so bad,
then you can make sure

those pictures of me
don't end up anywhere else.

- I'm sorry, I can't do that.

Can I?

* *

- I thought I was talking
to a boy that I liked.

Then a stranger saw my breasts.

- I know, this is hard.

But if it makes you
feel any better,

you weren't the only one
who got fooled.

- How many other kids were
tricked into sending nudes?

- A lot.

And they're all smart,
just like you.

Can I show you
a picture of someone?

Does he look familiar at all?

- Um, yeah.

He goes to Harrington Prep.
- Uh-huh.

- I sat next to him at a
math competition last week.

- Well, he's the one who
got your photo yesterday.

Don't worry, we already
deleted it off his phone.

- Who sent it to him?

- My guess is

probably the guy who pretended
to be Oliver

two months ago on Ghost Letter.

- Why would some pervert
send my nudes

to a guy I know
from Math League?

- Because he asked for
a photo in exchange.

- That guy wanted
the kid from Math League

to send a nude of himself
in return?

- That's what
it's looking like.

Hey, look,
I know you and the boy

who got your photo yesterday
both go to separate schools,

but you do have
Math League in common.

So is there anything else
that you can think of?

A mutual friend,
a coach, a tutor?

- We have the same college
admissions advisor.

- What's your advisor's name?

- Adam Parker.
Yeah, that's him.

- How much you know about him?
- I mean, he--

- He's the most sought-after
admissions advisor

on the Upper East Side.

- Adam wouldn't hurt anyone.

- Well, even if he would,
Adam makes $400 an hour.

Why the hell would
he get wrapped up

in something like this?

- Well, at this point,
we're just looking

for connections, Mr. Banks.

- My older daughter
wouldn't have

gotten into Brown without him.

- Yeah, well, sometimes people
aren't who you think they are.

- Yeah, that's him.

Adam Parker.

- Costs an arm and a leg,
but he's the best there is.

- And you say you've only used
him for one session so far?

- Ever since Eli heard of him.

I checked his references.

Guidance counselor
swears by him.

- Eli, did you and Adam ever
discuss your personal life?

- Well, he said he needed
to know more about me,

that it would help zero in

on what my essay
should be about.

- He's not
the strongest writer.

- Thanks a lot, Mom.

- So this college admissions
advisor was pretending

to be different
high school kids?

- Adam Parker, 38.

- This guy's no joke.
He's some kind of genius.

- He's got his PhD in
computational finance

from Stanford.

- He built himself a
hell of a business since.

- Only problem is,
he's pretty successful

at his second job, too.

- Yeah, perving on minors.

- Do we know what he was
doing with these photos?

- Not yet.

- That's why we called you,
Counselor.

- Do we have enough
for a warrant?

- He's the only
common denominator

for every kid
that was targeted?

- Some countries,
that's enough

to put you in front
of a firing squad.

- Be a hell of a lot
cheaper than a trial.

- This is a big case.
Nice work.

Pick him up.
- All right.

.

[tense music]

* *

- Adam Parker?

* *

- [grunts]

[police radio chatter]

- Clear.

- Hands up!

Hands up.

Get up.

- He touch anything?

- Yeah, he closed out
of some email account.

- I want a lawyer.
- I hope you saved some money,

cause you're going
to need a good one.

Velasco, grab that laptop.
- I'll do it.

- We verify his identity?

- I sent the female vic
a photo via text,

and she confirmed
that it's Adam Parker.

- Currently,
his only profession

is college admissions
counselor for the children

of Manhattan's elite.

- His side hustle is
child pornographer.

- But you didn't find
any actual kiddie porn

in his house?

- TARU's going through
his electronics,

but he must know we're
going to find something.

- Why else would she
ask for a sit-down?

- Well,
so Celeste Palmer isn't cheap.

This guy didn't agree to talk
to us just to plead guilty.

- This guy thinks he's slick.

- He smiled when we cuffed him.

- My guess, this guy
thinks he can play us.

- Then it's game time
for you, Counselor.

- Let's get started, shall we?

- So, how does all this work?

- How does all this work?

Well, you tell us why you lured
dozens of high school students

into sending incriminating
photos of themselves,

what you did with them,
and then we try

to put you in prison
for as long as possible.

- We're here to cooperate,
Captain.

- Then let's hear it.

- Well, I may be
an opportunist...

[chuckles]
But I'm no pedophile.

- You impersonated someone
that these kids knew online,

and then you lured them
into sending you

nudes of themselves.

- Which you did
what with, exactly?

- We already know that
you gathered details

about the kids' personal lives
after you pretended

to help them with their essays.

- I wasn't pretending.
- Mm.

- Now, I'm assuming
you saw my website.

- It's a bold claim,
100% success rate

getting kids into
top-tier schools.

- One thing I never
lie about is stats.

I get results.

- Speaking of which, we have
something concrete to offer.

- After what he did?

- That depends on what
we're talking about here.

- My client is not the type of
criminal you're looking for.

- Like I said,
I'm no pedophile.

- Well, if you're trying
to frame this as anything

other than what it is,
a class D felony,

that's not going to fly
with my boss.

- My client can give you
a large group of pedophiles.

We're talking about
the buyers of the images

he culled over the years.

- So you sold them.

- How many pedos are
we talking about here?

- 50.
- 50?

- Well, why would we
make a deal with you

when TARU can get us
those same buyers

through his computer,
which you were

no doubt trying to delete
when my detectives

broke down your door?

- Not quite, Captain.
- Let me handle this.

The mail server
he used can only be

decrypted using a private key.

- Not even your techs
can crack it.

- OK, I'm listening.
- I'm not.

Your client sold these
pictures internationally,

is that correct?

- No one's denying that.

- Well, then it's not
our deal to make.

This is for the Feds,
or maybe even Interpol.

- Liv.

[door slams]

- Do you want to give
the Eighth Floor

50 pedophiles or not,
Mr. Carisi?

- Give me a minute.

- [sighs]

- You already on
the phone with the Feds?

- Yes.

May I please speak with Special
Agent in Charge Harrison Clay?

- Liv, hang up the phone.

Liv, listen to me.

Hear me out, please.

- Carisi, are you trying
to prove to Baxter

that you're back
to your regular self?

Is that what this is about?

- Liv, we make deals
all the time.

What is so different
about this one?

- Because parents entrusted
their children to this guy.

- Yeah, and I understand
your point,

but you're not even trying
to understand mine.

- This guy is a scumbag.

And who knows how far
this case sprawls?

And the fact of the matter is
that we should be looping in

the Feds and Interpol
right now.

- We will, but this
is just one man, Liv.

And right now,
we have an opportunity

to take down an entire ring
of pedophiles.

- Is this some sick version
of a trolley car problem?

- I'm not talking about
this guy walking free,

no repercussions whatsoever.

- Well, good, because
that's not going to happen.

- Liv, if offering him
some kind of limited plea

gets us a chance to get all
the photos of these kids back,

then we should do it.

Who knows what else these 50
guys are going to be guilty of?

- OK.

OK, I get it.

You want to make
a deal with the devil.

- If it gets me 50 devils,
yeah, I do.

- Good, OK.
Well, I don't have to like it.

I'm sure you guys heard
all of that,

so I suggest you go home
and get some sleep,

because first thing tomorrow,
it's all hands on deck.

.

- Captain?
- Hey.

- Someone here to see you.

- Leah.

- The officer said
that Detective Silva

was in a meeting.

- Yeah, she's working hard
on your case.

- I hope I'm not bothering you.
- No, not at all.

Come on in.

- Please.
- Thanks.

- Thank you.

What can I do for you?

- I haven't--

I didn't sleep at all
last night.

- Let's talk in here.

So it turns out that
this case has become

much bigger
than we anticipated.

- Bigger?

How?

- There are a lot of photos
still out there,

and not just yours.

- I've never done
anything like this before.

- Mm.

[soft dramatic music]

Up until last year,
I used to be a bit overweight.

- OK.

- And so then I was always
really shy around guys.

And then I started getting
all of this attention.

- And that must have
been confusing, huh?

- Then...

Oliver sat next to me
in class,

and he seemed safe.

- Well, according
to my detectives, he is.

- Well, he's also shy,

which is why I reached out
to him on that app.

- Yeah, I'm not going to
tell you to-- to stay off

your phone, but talking
to people in person,

that's a much better way
of seeing who they really are.

* *

- Listen up.

The DA and the Feds have
made a deal with Adam Parker.

- But he's going to do time?
- There's no hard number yet.

It's contingent
on him delivering.

- So what are we
getting from this guy?

- We are going to get
access to the buyers

on his encrypted mail account.

- And hopefully, all of
the victim's images back.

- So what's the plan?

We lure these buyers into a
meeting using the same photos

that we already
have in evidence?

- And victimize
these kids even more?

- Well, we're going to have to
incentivize these guys somehow.

- So that's why we need
to set up a sting.

I want you to reach out
to these guys

and let them think that
there's an actual...

boy or girl
in a hotel in Midtown.

- Well, who's going
to pose as the bait?

- You are, Silva.

- OK, well, the buyers are
used to talking to him.

So how am I going to
lure these guys in?

- Adam's going to
handle the language.

- And we're sure
we can trust him?

- Well, we don't have a choice.

We made a deal,
didn't we, Carisi?

- Come on.
Let's go catch some pedophiles.

- "I'm talking real girls."

- We've got 12 guys signed on.

[computer chimes]

- OK, I know this guy.

He likes them young.

Tell him 14.

- 14.

- Got him.
Let's go to the next guy.

[computer chimes]

- That's another one.

- Not safe for work?

- He's in Chicago.

Middle of his work day,
he'll get back later.

Next.

- Keep going.

- Carisi,
it's been eight hours.

How many pedos do
you have on the hook?

- We got five.
- Five.

- So far.
- OK.

What if this guy is playing us?

- He's not.

- Well, he's pretty smart,
and he's calculated.

- We have 50 confirmed buyers.

Some of these guys,
they live in other states,

so this is just going
to take some time.

- Time that we don't have.

I got a girl who's worried
about her photos

being out there, and she wants
to know that they're not going

to be sent to anyone else.

- Liv, I respect
what you're saying.

Of course I do.

And I am doing everything
that I can for your victim.

- I would choose one victim
over five perps

any day of the week.

So if your perp wants
to earn his plea deal,

he's going to have to
deliver a whole lot more.

- Mr. Parker, you did not
come through for us.

- I told you,
getting these guys to commit

could take a while.

- We've been at this all day.
We only have five meets set up?

- I made no guarantees
on the time frame.

- Where you going?
- Let me do the talking.

- There's nothing
to talk about.

- The Captain's right.

Now I've got to
go call my boss.

I've got to tell him
that you didn't deliver.

- Wait.

I gave you access to my buyers,
the encrypted account.

But I can give you the spot
I found them online.

The guys that I sell to,
they only like teens, right?

But the ones in the place
that I'm talking about,

they like to hurt kids.

[tense music]

* *

- Where do we find them?

- Uh, Wish Crafter.

- Never heard of that.

- I'm not surprised.

It's an online
platform where users

can create, share, and play
games made by other users.

- Just get to the point.

- You want sickos,
I can give you

the environment they created
for themselves to hunt kids.

- How many so far?

- We got 30 guys coming to
the Baronet Hotel tomorrow.

- All right, keep going.
I promised Benson 50.

I'm going to bring 'em 50.

[keyboards clacking]

[computer blips]

- Got another one.

He thinks he's meeting
a 13-year-old

tomorrow in the 2:15 slot.

- I got another one
on the hook.

- All right, reel them in.

[keyboards clacking]

Good.

- Yeah, but there's
something off.

- What do you mean?

- Bring him up.

- I think he's really a kid.

- Not according to TARU.

E-mail into the account
puts his age at 32.

Nice work.

* *

- [sighs]

[computer blips]

- You still here?
Come on, let's go.

- Oh, it's that kid, Matthew.

- You mean that pedophile
pretending to be a kid?

- It's just,
he sounds so young.

- He's 32.

He's just working you, Silva.

Did he confirm meeting
at the Baronet?

- Yeah.

- OK.
- Tomorrow at 4:00.

- Carisi is going to
need to show intent.

Did you ask him
to bring alcohol?

Condoms?

There, I asked.

- OK, good.
He confirmed.

We're all set.

What's a condom?

Wow.

He's really testing
your innocence.

- So, uh, what do I tell him?

- Where to buy them.

Tomorrow's going to be
a long day for you, Silva.

- Well, yeah, all I've got
to do is sound like I'm 14.

[tense music]

[knock at door]

Come on in.
Just give me a sec.

- Haley?

- Simon, right?
- Yeah.

- Uh, I'll be right out there.

I just got out of the shower.

And you didn't forget
to bring the condoms, right?

- No.

- Shows intent.
- Let's go.

- Hands up.
- What the hell?

- Turn around.
- Search him.

- What is this?

- Got him, Sarge.
- You're under arrest.

- Take him.

- I'll be right out!

- I got you some presents.

- Get up.

- It's not what it looks like.
- Yeah?

What's with the gift?
- And what are these for?

- You're under arrest.

- This is entrapment!

- Tell that to your lawyer.

- Come on.

- Not a bad day's work.

- Real work's just
getting started.

Now we got to process
all these guys.

Is that your 32-year-old pedo
with the lizard character?

[knocking]
- Amy, it's Matthew!

Sorry I'm late.
I took the wrong bus.

But I brought
everything you asked.

- Sarge, do we really have to?

- Carisi put his ass
on the line with the DA.

We have 49 arrests.

We got to go by the book
with all of them.

- Matthew?
- Amy?

Amy, is that you?

- Yeah.

- Oh, it's so good to meet you!

I wanted to show you
my Gila Monster shirt.

Do you like it?

Are these your friends?

- Uh, what's in your bag?

- Oh.

- Condoms.

- I asked the guy behind
the counter at the deli.

I did what you asked.
Did I do good?

- You did, Matthew.

- Do you want to play
Wish Crafter?

- Maybe later, but right now,
my friends need to talk to you.

- What?
What?

But my mom's going
to be so mad at me,

and I need to be home
before 8:00.

Where are you taking me?

Amy, I'm scared!

I want my mom!
Can I call my mom?

- We'll call her for you!

- You both saw him.

- Silva,
we're on your side here.

- We're not going to really
get him processed, are we?

- We don't want to do this
any more than you do,

but the way it looks,
he showed up.

He knocked on the door.

Brought condoms.

- It shows intent.

Cut him loose now,

a good defense attorney
will have all our arrests

thrown out for entrapment.

* *

.

[door slams]

- Officer Chilton.

- Can I help you, Detective?

- Yeah.

Matthew Daly, where's he going?

- It's getting late.

Probably not going to
arraign him till tomorrow.

- Mm-hmm.

- He'll be in the
holding cell overnight

with the rest of these guys.

- Uh, yeah, is there
any way to stop that?

- It's above my pay grade, but,

if you don't mind my saying,
50 pedos in one sting?

Good job, Detective.

- Silva, you're here early.

- Captain, I need your help.

- What-- what's going on?

- One of the suspects
that we arrested

last night in that sting--

You mean one of
Carisi's 50 pedos?

- It seemed that way, but--

- OK. What?
What happened?

- Matthew Daly
is what happened.

He's special needs,
and I think

I might have worked him
a little too hard.

- How so?

- I talked him into
bringing condoms.

- Did he?
- Yeah.

- That is a problem.

- Captain, please.
Read his file.

He's not who we're looking for.

- I'm assuming you're happy.
- Actually, yeah.

You know, I haven't felt
this good in a long time.

- So you delivered your
50 cases to Baxter?

- The only problem is, now I
got to prepare 50 arraignments.

- How would you feel
about making it 49?

- What, is this about the--

the arrest
Silva has a problem with?

- Well, his name
is Matthew Daly,

and evidently,
he sobbed

through his entire
booking process.

- All right, what do you
want me to do about it?

- Well, for starters, how about
you look up from your paperwork

and look at me?

According to his medical file,

Matthew Daly has the cognition
of a fifth grader.

- Well, this guy
showed up with condoms

to a hotel room
where he thought

he was meeting
a 14-year-old girl.

On the Eighth Floor,
they call that intent.

- His only intent
was to make a friend

in his favorite online world,

and he thought he found
that friend in Silva.

- Maybe,
but this is the real world,

and there's real-world
consequences.

He's going to have a lawyer.

He can plead not guilty
at the arraignment.

- Carisi, when this started,

Silva thought
this case of yours,

which has blossomed
into 50 arrests,

was a de minimis case,
a case so insignificant

that we shouldn't even
concern ourselves with it.

Matthew Daly is
the real de minimis case.

- Are you lecturing me about
the law now, in my own office?

- I think the real question

is what are we going
to do about it?

[soft dramatic music]

* *

- Mr. Krieger, on the charge
of attempted rape two,

how do you plead?

- Not guilty, Your Honor.

- People on bail?

- We request 25,000,
Your Honor.

- My client has no priors.

- 25,000, granted.

Next case.

How do you plead?

- Not guilty, Your Honor.

- People on bail?

- 25,0000 again, Your Honor.

- 25,000, granted.

Next case.

- Matthew Daly,
also charged with

attempted rape
in the second degree.

- Mister...

* *

- Over here, buddy.
Over here.

- Mr. Daly, how do you plead?

- [stammering]
I-- I--

I didn't do anything bad.

- Not guilty, Your Honor.

- People on bail?

- 25,000, Your Honor.

- 25,000, granted.

Next case.

- Still paying your penance?

- Uh, yeah, I guess.

- No one said self-flagellation
was going to be easy.

- The sarge never should
have made me arrest that kid.

- Well, maybe he
did you a favor.

Sooner or later,
you were bound to learn

the difference between
Homicide and Special Victims.

- Arresting an innocent man?

- When you were in Homicide,

all your victims probably had
chalk outlines around them.

Here, they still have a pulse.

- Amy, what are you doing here?

- Uh, I came to see you.

- Oh, this is my mom.
Her name is Fran.

- Oh, Matthew, this is
my friend, Detective Bruno.

- Matthew, honey,
why don't you go wait for me

over by the elevator, OK?

- OK.
- Come on, I'll walk you over.

- Bye, Amy.
- Bye.

* *

I'm really sorry
about all of this.

- My son is 32 years old.

He's never spent a night away
from me in his entire life.

He can't go to jail.

- Mrs. Daly,
I'm going to fix this.

- How?

- I don't know, but I will.

* *

.

- This is wrong.
This guy can't go to prison.

- Silva.

- You should see that sad-sack
public defender he has.

That guy looks like he just
graduated from law school.

- Silva,
quit while you're ahead.

I will take care of it.

- You already talk to Carisi?

- You're just going to have
to trust me, aren't you?

- Benson, you're here again.

- And I don't want to be.

But as you know,
Matthew Daly was arraigned,

and the bail
was set at a number

that his mother
can't remotely afford.

Carisi, this case
needs to be dismissed.

- We're about to have
another one of our arguments?

- No, but I just
came by to tell you

that I am going
to talk to Baxter.

- Professional courtesy, huh?
- Something like that.

- Well, explain to me,
what's courteous about you

going around me to my boss
to get my case dismissed?

- If I have to do
this alone, I will.

But I'd like you
to come with me.

Thank you.

- Hey, Liv.
You heard Baxter's assistant.

He went home for the day.
- Yes, five minutes ago.

He can't be far.
- What?

We're going to ambush the DA
in a parking garage?

- If that's what it takes.

- Liv, this is not how you
ask my boss for a favor.

- Look, Baxter and I have
our own relationship, OK?

He owes me.

We need to talk.

- Captain, you could have
just stopped by my office.

- Yeah, I tried to
tell her that.

- I'm sorry for the intrusion.
- What's up?

- I wanted to talk to you about
reconsidering the charges

against one of the guys that we
caught in the sting yesterday,

Matthew Daly.

- I may have heard
something about it.

- And?
- It's a serious case,

attempted rape
in the second degree.

- I know.
- Not to mention

endangering the welfare
of a child.

- And at the same time,
justice is about being fair.

And I would hardly call
the arrest of Matthew Daly

fair, exactly.

- You know, a lot of people
on the Eighth Floor

talk about you.
- What do they say?

- That you're
a pain in the ass.

You get personally invested
in each and every case.

And they think the courts
are no place for emotion.

- Well, if you can separate
justice from emotion,

I'd like to see you try.

- You think he's innocent,
Counselor?

- Enough to go to the judge,

ask him to be merciful,
not punitive.

- OK, here's what I'll do.

When I get back to my desk,

I'll personally look
over the case file.

- Or you could just read it
on the way there.

[engine starts]

- Captain, where have you been?

- Falling on my sword
in front of Baxter.

- The DA?
- Yeah, Fin.

Believe it or not,
I have friends other than you.

Silva, my office.
- Uh-oh.

- Called into
the principal's office.

- Yeah, guess so.
- What'd you do?

- My job.

- I told you, switching
from Homicide to SVU,

you must be a glutton
for punishment.

- I got the DA to
drop the Daly case.

- You did?

- I told you I would,
and I did.

- A thank you would be nice.

- Thank you, Captain.
- You're welcome.

- I'm going to let Matthew
and his mother know.

- OK.
And thank you.

- Me, for what?

- For reminding me what
a de minimis violation

really looks like.

[phone buzzes]

Ah, now get out of my office,
because this is Carisi.

- Yeah.

[soft music]

- So that's it?
- Mm-hmm.

- It's over?

- Yeah, there won't be
anything on his record,

and it'll be like it
never, ever happened.

- Thank you.

Matthew.
- Yes, Mom.

- You better get over here
and say thank you to Amy.

- Thank you so much, Amy.

- Yeah.

- I just made myself
a wood elf in "Skyrim."

- Wow, that's great.

- Would you like to
come play sometime?

- Yeah, I'd love to.

- Oh my gosh, Amy, yes,
thank you so much.

Thank you.

* *

- How'd that go?

- Great, except, uh,

now I have to learn how to play
something called "Skyrim."

- [chuckles]
I'll teach you.

- Yeah?

I didn't know you were
a video game type of guy.

- Not anymore.

Too addictive.

- So those photos of me
won't get out there?

- We tracked down
every single member

who had access to Adam Parker's
encrypted email accounts,

and it turns out that
they only traded the photos

among themselves
in a draft form,

which means they never even
went out over the wire.

- So you can guarantee

that this is going to
never come back and haunt me?

- Well,
I can't guarantee anything

because of the type of people
that we're dealing with.

But the good news is you've got
your whole life ahead of you

and you'll probably
make more mistakes.

But that's OK,
because that's how we learn.

- Well, I'm never going to
send another nude picture of me

like that again.

- You know, one thing I've
realized as I've gotten older--

it's not the mistakes
that define us.

It's the choices that
we make afterward that do.

* *

- Thank you.

- You take care of yourself.

[wolf howls]