Law & Order Special Victims Unit s05e25 Episode Script
Head
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.
Double chai latte, half caf, whipped cream.
Bathroom this way? Hold on.
Hello? The quarterly reports aren't on your desk 'cause you asked me to pick them up on my way in.
Not good.
They spiral-bound them.
Yes, I know that makes you crazy.
That's why they're redoing them as we speak.
I told him, velo binding.
No, I can't hand him the phone.
He said it'd take 20 minutes, so I ran next door for a cup of Damn it! Oh.
What? What the hell is this? Digital CCD, waterproofed, pinhole lens.
A spy camera.
Taking some very candid photos.
Video, actually.
High resolution.
Do you have any idea how long it's been here? These puppies burn batteries pretty quickly.
Three, four hours, tops.
remaining.
It was set up less than two hours ago.
So where's the video? The camera was hooked up to this micro-transmitter.
Could've been recording as far as a block away.
Or as close as the next room.
Getting way too easy to invade someone's privacy.
A guy just has to turn on his computer and pick up the signal.
Peeping Toms have gone high-tech on us.
You used to have to go outside and hide in the bushes.
Now you can violate somebody by sitting in front of your computer enjoying a cup of coffee.
Which one of them is a pervert? The guy who downloaded the most crap.
Where are we on the potty perv? I've got a thumbprint on the bottom of the transmitter but no matches.
Any of the cafe patrons looking good? The ones that'd used the john just looked freaked out.
TARU searched the hard drives.
Nothing.
Figure our guy was watching it live, high-tailed it out of there when the complaining witness found the camera.
Gives a whole new meaning to "live, streaming video.
" You're either looking for a urophiliac, that's a sexual attraction to urine or a copraphiliac.
That's Okay, let's not go there.
This stuff I just don't get.
Well, these aren't heavily-studied paraphilias, but they're often the result of an abusive childhood.
The outside world is so hostile that these kids turn inward on themselves.
And then they become fixated by their bodily functions.
This guy dangerous? Probably not.
But he's antisocial.
The crime's voyeuristic and he didn't have any physical contact with his victims.
Still, we've already got more calls on this guy than on the Midtown Rapist, and I'd like to put him out of commission.
Maybe we can track him down through his spy-cam equipment.
You name it, we can put a camera in it.
Alarm clocks, buttons, shoes Now what do you need a camera in your shoe for unless you gonna look up a girl's dress? Hey, this is a legit business.
I sell a lot to the Department.
I'm a licensed PI myself.
What's this? Hmm, pedophiles must love this thing.
It's a nanny-cam in the left eye.
Who knows how many young lives this has saved? We talked to one of your competitors.
He said he thought this looked like your work.
Well, it could be.
I don't do the special orders myself.
Who does? Charlie.
Works in the back.
Parts are from various kits.
No serial numbers.
Really no way of tracin' it.
Did you put it together? Look, I do so many custom jobs, it's really hard to keep it all straight.
Charlie, unless this is a cleverly disguised camera, that information should be in here, right? Let me try searching for an order using the same various components, okay? No, no.
How many itty-bitty cameras could you have made? In the last year? About 500.
Well, this one was waterproof, so that's got to narrow it down.
Hey, wait a minute, this might be something.
Six months ago, a customer came in and he ordered five of them.
What's his name? "F.
E.
Tischman.
" "Fetish Man.
" "Fetishmanor.
Net.
" Are you in charge here? I'm the production manager.
Gil Tanner.
Oh, your call was a half-an-hour ago.
Get your asses in there.
Keep your pants on.
We're coming.
Gil, what exactly are you shooting in there? Porn.
All perfectly legal.
Broadcast live over the internet 24l7.
Anything goes? As long as no one gets hurt.
We supply the models, you direct the action.
We've got more positions than the Kama Sutra.
You must have a lot of cameras to catch all those angles.
Closed set.
Uh, yeah, the house has over a 100.
Including five toilet cams? There's only one in the bowl itself.
Our heavy hits are in the showers and the hot tubs.
Gil, we've got a situation with the Chinese Spinning Basket.
Copy.
I'm on it.
Hey, Gil.
You ever shoot on location? Like, say, a coffee house? Why? I've got a one-stop fetish shop right here.
It's an f'in cash cow.
So all of your toilet cams are accounted for, huh? Believe me, I'd be the first to know if that website went dark.
Feel free to check it out.
Can you believe this fetishmanor.
Net had over 300,000 hits? Casey says we don't have enough to subpoena their subscriber lists.
No, ma'am, we haven't recovered any videos yet.
To be honest, I have no idea how we're going to identify the victims.
Liv, uh, Mr.
Carson here saw the video voyeur on the news.
He needs to talk to somebody about it.
I take it you used the facility at the cafe yesterday? No, I work in the building next door.
He believes he might have run into our perp.
A gentleman with a laptop.
Where? On the sidewalk.
I was getting off a taxi and this guy practically knocked me over getting into it.
What time? How do you know he was coming from the cafe? I recognized their logo on the coffee cup, which he spilled all over me.
Okay.
Can you describe him? White, late 20s, dark hair.
About my height and wore glasses.
Are you on an expense account? Yeah, why? Well, your receipt can tell us the cab number.
The dispatcher should be able to tell us where he dropped him off.
We're looking for a computer geek who carries a laptop? I don't know his name, but sounds like someone I've seen in the building.
Do you know which apartment? First door on the right.
That'd be 1A.
Know anything else about him? Just that he creeps me out.
He never makes eye contact, just stares at people's asses.
Mr.
Donato! TV's on.
Somebody's home.
If there's any poetic justice, we caught him in the bathroom.
Hey, if it isn't Charlie the spy girl.
You know her? She's the technician from the camera shop.
What do you want now? Let's take another crack at who you made that toilet cam for.
Here's a clue: He lives in this apartment.
It's my baby brother Wade.
You live together? Well, I'm actually He has trouble holding down a job and he asked if he could spend a few weeks on my couch and it turned into three years.
Now that's sisterly love: Free room, and board, and surveillance equipment.
Look, you guys, this is my fault, you know.
I should have never made it for him.
You knew that he was a pervert.
He's not.
He he's just troubled.
I've always had to look out for him.
We didn't have a pleasant childhood, right? You seem to be high functioning.
Wade took the brunt of the abuse.
He's a very sensitive boy.
I think the people he caught with their pants down might disagree.
Is this where the little peeper keeps his stuff? Please don't, Wade doesn't want anyone touchin' his things.
Just a peek.
No.
Charlie.
Your brother is sick, okay? You're not doing him any favors.
Help us stop him so we can get him the counseling he needs.
"Urine Luck"? It must be good.
They're sequels.
What are you doing? Admiring your video collection.
Wade, these are detectives.
They know.
I didn't break any laws.
You did if you took any of these without the subject's consent.
Now, uh, these look homemade, Wade.
I can explain.
Let's go back to our place.
You'll love our facilities.
Seriously, Wade, just tell me.
What do you get out of it? I really don't feel like discussing it.
Wade, I've got to commend you on your fine penmanship.
Our friend here has been keeping a journal, detailing his toilet tour of Manhattan.
You had no right to read that.
You had no right to shoot the crap.
The witness you ran over fleeing from the scene of the crime positively ID'ed you.
That's how we got our search warrant.
I can't stand people touching my things.
Did you get anything off his computer? Footage from the cafe, yeah.
Oh, did he write about it in his journal? Try May 2, 8:05 a.
m.
Please don't do this.
"Female subject, fat butt.
Urination, 33-second duration, marigold yellow.
" I wasn't hurting anyone.
No, you violated hundreds of people.
The videos were for my own private use.
No one else was ever gonna see them.
Just let me pay the fine so I can go.
It doesn't work that way anymore.
They passed Stephanie's Law in August.
Video voyeurism is now an E-felony.
One to four years.
Per count.
No way.
You serve those consecutively, you're lookin' at a life sentence.
I wanna make a deal.
Well, unfortunately, you don't have anything we want.
No, I do.
A real crime.
Yeah, what is it? If you catch the guy, will you reduce my sentence? Depends.
What have you got? Check out DVD 62 about an hour in.
This is from two weeks ago.
"Saturday, 1:00 p.
m.
" I'll spare you the details.
The next one's three minutes after this.
It's marked "NS.
" What's "NS"? "No Specimen.
" Here we go.
Oh, no.
Not a kid.
Check out his right eye.
It looks like he's been attacked.
Recently.
Maybe he ran in there to hide? Look, the door's shaking.
Someone must have followed him in.
Don't open the door.
The camera's going out.
The toilet perv caught a sexual assault.
And didn't do a thing to stop it.
You watched that boy being molested? What are you doing? Look.
Oh! Where were you? Where were you? I don't know what you're talking about.
You were standing right outside.
No.
Watching.
No, no.
I saw it later.
Wade, don't lie to me.
That's not your MO.
You like a live show.
You saw that whole thing go down, you didn't even help? What was I supposed to do? Help him! Yeah, I told the cops that I caught the whole thing on my toilet cam.
Where did it happen? Central Park.
The camera didn't catch the guy's face.
Describe him.
I was on a bench I never saw him.
Can't get what's not there.
All we have is the perp's blue sweatshirt and jeans.
What about the boy? We'll never get an ID.
It's too grainy.
We have some new technology on loan from NASA.
Let's see what it can do.
The software is a video image stabilization system called VISAR.
That's what they used to solve that car wash abduction down in Florida.
That's amazing.
You could see just how fresh the cut over his eye is.
Not to mention eye color: Blue.
I'll print it out for you.
No, hold on, hold on.
Go back out.
There's a section that we kept replaying.
We couldn't quite make it out.
Right there.
Go back a few frames.
Zoom in.
Something in the perp's hand.
Can you enhance it? That's an athletic cup.
He must have been playing some kind of sport in the park.
He's wearing a soccer jersey.
Well, that explains the cut over his eye.
Probably got injured during the game.
Yeah, which the pedophile may have been watching.
Guys, we've got something else.
What? The nails are manicured.
The tips are white.
Our molester is a woman.
Well, that certainly narrows the suspect pool.
Only 10 percent of all pedophiles are female.
That we know of.
It's definitely understudied and probably underreported.
Patrol had a walk in the park that day.
No one reported so much as a mugging.
Which bathroom are we talking about? Wade says that it was close to the Boathouse Cafe.
The nearest facility is Midtown here.
There're a lot of practice fields in that area.
The journal said the attack occurred around 1:03 p.
m.
I checked the team schedules.
The closest field reserved for soccer was Vipers vs.
Bulldogs.
The boy's jersey was red and black.
That's the Bulldogs.
Talk to their coach.
That's Shane Madden, our star forward.
Anything unusual happen at that game? Yeah, we were actually winning for once until Shane got thrown out.
For what? Fighting with the other team's sweeper.
Any adults get involved? Shane's mom ran onto the field: A real piece of work.
How so? She's got a little too much team spirit in the liquid form.
So she was drunk.
Sure wasn't feeling any pain, not even when she fell on her ass.
Trying to break up a fight? No.
Joining in.
She assaulted a kid? Verbally.
She slipped in the mud before she could reach him and then she teetered off to clean herself up.
I assume to the nearest restroom.
How long after all that did Shane leave? Right away.
He never came back.
Any other women leave the game around that time? Not that I noticed.
What school does Shane go to? Trumpet section, last chair on the right.
You noticed any behavioral changes in the last two weeks? I don't have much interaction with him.
Shane's a good student.
Only problem cases get sent to the principal's office.
We're gonna need to speak to his homeroom teacher.
Uh, Fred Moynihan, Room 109.
Do you have a place where we can speak to Shane privately? You're welcome to use my office.
Go ahead and pull him out, please.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Shane.
It was caught on tape.
There was a hidden camera in the bathroom.
It wasn't me.
Well, it looks just like you.
Even wearing your jersey.
Who was it? Is it a stranger or someone you know? A stranger.
Can you describe her? Why? I thought you had her picture.
We do.
We just need you to tell us anything you can remember about her.
You know what, I I really don't want to do this.
Shane, you have nothing to be ashamed of.
You didn't do anything wrong.
You guys suck.
What happened? We're gonna need to talk to his parents.
I don't know.
There's just a mother and I use the term loosely.
So you know about her problem? She came to speak to the kids on Career Day.
It was horrible.
Great lesson on the perils of drinking, though.
What exactly is Mrs.
Madden's career? A beautician.
She works at a place called Creme de la Crop.
The little girls just love him.
They call him all the time.
Ma'am, do you understand what happened to your son? He's a gorgeous kid, just like his father.
Girls couldn't keep their hands off him either.
Well, we're talking about an adult.
Who would do something like that? We understand that you had a little mishap at the game.
Some idiot knocked me in a mud puddle.
Where'd you go to clean yourself up? Bathroom.
Happen to run into your son there? No.
Would you mind if we took a look at your nails? Why? What the hell are you implying? Just that you both were in the restroom at the same time.
I used the one at the Boathouse Cafe and then stayed for a drink.
All right, how long were you there for? Oh, let's see.
I was finishing my second beverage when Shane came and pulled me out.
Did he say anything about what had happened? No, but who talks about sex with their mother? Did you notice any female spectators who didn't have a son there? Cindy Bellamy.
And who's that? Shane's babysitter until about a month ago.
Used to love her, but one day ups and throws a fit.
Says he doesn't need her anymore.
What was she doin' there? I have no idea.
I went to more of Shane's games than his own mom.
Uh, while I was there, I networked a little, picked up three other gigs.
So you were babysittin' another kid that day? Yeah, Davey Auerbach.
Come on, Alex, Dylan? Five minute time-out.
Separate rooms, come on.
Told you.
You've got quite a way with the boys there.
Yeah, I'm strict, but I always make sure they have fun.
And 12 to 15 hours is nothing to sneeze at.
Shame you were fired from the Madden gig.
Shane said he was too old for a babysitter.
But too young for a girlfriend.
I'd never do that to a kid.
I'm dating one of my professors.
I like them older.
Now if you'll excuse me.
Did you talk to Shane at that game? Yeah.
I asked if things had gotten any better with his mom.
There was a problem? She's a total alky.
I heard she was really knockin' them back at that game.
I can't tell you how many times I was babysitting, she showed up hours late, blotto.
A lot of times with a younger guy than who she left with.
Must be rough on Shane.
God knows what he's seen.
When she's drunk, Mrs.
Madden has no idea what she's doing.
We're seriously looking at the mother? She was in the vicinity at the time of the attack.
Witnesses say she was drunk.
And when she drinks, she gets horny for younger guys.
When I was on the bottle, I woke up with my share of regrettable bedmates.
But her own son? The more you drink, the blinder you get.
And her alcoholic blackouts are legend.
We canvassed the building.
Everyone had a horror story.
Like the time she woke up so drunk she couldn't find her own bathroom.
Ended up pounding on a neighbor's door at 3:00 a.
m.
, asking to use his.
Naked.
So at the very least, we're looking at an unfit mother.
Where's the father? Babysitter said he split years ago.
Apparently Shane took over some of his duties.
Okay, but in the bedroom? You know how big a role alcohol plays in sexual assault.
Before we stagger down this road, let's not rule out other possibilities.
Shane's team has a game tomorrow.
It should be the same crowd.
Chat up the cheering sections, see if anybody saw anything.
Check out the redhead.
Blue sweatshirt and jeans.
Just like the perp in the video.
Ma'am? Yes? "Soccer Mom.
" That's what it says.
You got a boy on the team? Do you? No, but we'd like to talk to you about your outfit.
What about it? Did you wear it to the game two weeks ago? I wear it to all the games.
The Booster Club pushes them to pay for the pizza parties.
Every mom in the league's got one.
Of course I bought a shirt.
Got to support my little man! Probably appreciate it a lot more if you were sober.
Screw you.
Ma'am, have you been drinking? No.
No? Mind if I examine your travel cup? Oops.
Okay, Mrs.
Madden, you're in violation of Code 10-125 and we could arrest you right now.
What do you want from me? Is this a school team? No, it's sponsored through the city.
Shane's principal, Mrs.
Rice, does she have a son on the team? No.
What's she doing here? Awfully close to the student body.
She's awful popular around here.
Looks like she has a thing for young boys in uniform.
Principal Rice? Hey, good to see you again.
Detectives.
Who's this young man? Jason.
My son.
Really? You look way too young to have a son this age.
Stepson.
Oh.
His team just won.
Congratulations.
Do you play in the same league as Shane? Jason's 14.
He's in an older division.
But it's the same league.
Where's your "Soccer Mom" shirt? I'm not big on sweatshirts.
What are you talkin' about? You wear that stupid thing all the time.
Yeah? Does your mom come to all your games? Oh, yeah.
She's a diehard soccer fan.
Must be.
We saw you hanging out at the Pee-Wee League.
I ran into a student.
Shane Madden.
Did you run into him two weeks ago? No.
I'm sorry.
We're late for a pizza party.
What do we know about the principal? No criminal records.
Just a lifetime of good deeds.
A stint in the Peace Corps, volunteer work, set up an adult literacy program.
She was IS-41's Teacher of the Year in '96 and '98, promoted to principal three years ago.
Nice gig for a pedophile.
Absolute power over all those kids.
It's just odd that there's never been so much as an allegation.
What about her personal life? Married seven years to an architect, one stepson.
Who happens to be two years older than the victim.
Well, most pedophiles don't get caught with their first victim.
Maybe she was fooling around with the stepson.
Easy access.
That's assuming that she's our perp.
Can we place her at the game in question? We just sat through two riveting hours of a soccer video that I wrangled from some dad.
No signs of the principal, but he did catch Shane's mom fallin' on her ass.
Well, the outfit's a crime, but it's not a match.
Rules her out.
Principal Rice had to have been there.
Her kid said she goes to all of his games.
We checked out where her stepson plays.
The restroom is between the two fields.
Come on, that's circumstantial, at best.
Captain, you weren't there today.
She couldn't get away from us fast enough.
She never gave us a chance to find out what she and Shane were talking about.
Ask him.
Check out the stepson.
How do you get along with Meredith? Great.
For a stepmom.
Well, for any mom.
I really got lucky with her.
It sounds like you two are pretty tight.
Well, I was a brat when she first moved in, but she's totally cool now.
How so? Well, she helps with homework, comes to all my games, boring school plays, exciting stuff like that.
Sounds good.
No, it doesn't.
What are you doin' here? Just checkin' in.
You always come to school early to practice? Well, the noise, it, uh, gives my mom headaches.
Well, I don't think it's your playing that gives her a headache.
You know, Shane, I know you've got a tough situation at home.
My mom, she, uh, she just needs extra help, you know? She gets sick a lot.
Yeah.
When you feel like talking to someone, that's my business card and you can give these people a call.
Alateen? What's that? It's a support group for children of alcoholics.
Thanks.
Let's talk about your situation here at school.
There's no situation.
With Principal Rice.
What about her? I have to get to class.
We have her on tape.
No, you don't.
In that restroom.
Yeah, we do.
We talked to her.
She won't say anything to you.
Well, she has been getting a little weird lately.
How so? She and my dad have been fighting.
That's what married folks do.
Yeah, but not them.
They never fought before.
It's getting really bad, too.
She even yelled at me.
What did you get from the stepson? Nothing to indicate he'd been molested.
What about Shane? He give her up? As good as.
I just couldn't get him to say it.
Not enough to remove a principal from school.
Which way is the teacher's lounge? Meredith Rice.
She's as straight-laced as they come, but the kids still love her.
Did you ever see her interact with Shane Madden? Actually, she's pulled him from my class a couple of times recently.
For what? I don't know.
Shane handed me a note excusing him from gym class.
Tell you the truth, I thought it was fake.
Why is that? Looked like a kid wrote it.
But I double-checked.
Mrs.
Rice confirmed it was her handwriting.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
If Shane Madden passed through here, odds are he was written up.
Should be here in the Disciplinary Action File.
Principal Rice didn't write all these, did she? In a public school, a lot of at-risk kids.
I mean the handwriting.
It looks like different people wrote these.
No.
Meredith meets with each one of them.
You're right, she is getting a little sloppy.
Something weighing on her mind? She has been distracted lately, but aren't we all? So close to summer break.
Hmm, nothing on Shane.
Is Principal Rice available? Oh, I'm sorry.
She's not back yet.
Where is she? Home.
Family emergency.
Mr.
Rice, have you had any contact with your wife? No, just tell me.
Is she in some kind of danger, one of her problem students? Mr.
Rice, how's your marriage? W- What? What are you talking about? We heard you were fighting.
That's none of your business.
Well, actually, it might be.
At the time that your wife left school, a young man, a student, also went missing.
So what, you think he kidnapped her? We think she kidnapped him.
What are you talking about? Your wife's been molesting that boy.
That's a lie.
We have it on tape.
I'm sorry.
Have you noticed any inappropriate behavior between Meredith and your son? Now, I've got a 12-year-old boy who's in danger out there, and I need you to tell me what is going on with your wife! What is going on with her? I don't know.
She's changed.
No.
She's changed, hasn't she? Yes.
Yes.
Please let me go.
Relax.
She's changed.
She hasn't been herself lately.
She She's preoccupied.
She snaps at any little thing.
She's And in the bedroom she's insatiable.
Are you telling me that she's screwed She's not getting enough so she's screwing a little boy on the side? We just need to find her.
Now do you have any idea where she might go? No.
Does she have access to a car? We have a car, but we don't use it very often.
Could you check with the garage? I got 911'ed out of my VICAP meeting.
We got a cluster? Shane Madden went missin'.
As did Principal Rice.
We're thinking they're together? Yeah, and getting out of Dodge.
Husband hasn't heard from her and she took his car.
Long gone by now.
We get out an APB? And an Amber alert.
And unfortunately, the blue Ford Taurus is a very popular make and model.
We're getting possible sightings from highways in the Tri-State area.
She's gotta stop for food or gas at some point.
We're tracking her ATM and credit cards? So far, no pops.
She's either using cash or Shane's piggy-bank.
Husband said the tank was near-empty.
We've got a sighting.
Where? Edgewater, New Jersey.
Trucker's right behind them on the exit.
Well, that's just outside the city.
How sure is he it's them? He gave me the full plate number.
Get movin'.
Get out of the vehicle! Move in! Shane? Back seat! Shane! Help! Exit the vehicle! Hands where we can see 'em! Go away! Comply, now.
Buddy, are you okay? I'm fine, but she's not.
She she's been throwing up.
Please don't let them hurt her.
Let's go.
She's sick.
All right.
She's sick.
You're under arrest for sexual assault and kidnapping of a minor.
You have the right to remain silent.
You give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
My head is splitting.
I think I need a doctor.
We've got a great company shrink you can see.
You've got to be out of your mind to be running off with a sixth grader.
I am not crazy.
I know it's wrong.
Good.
Taking responsibility.
That's the first step to setting it right.
Look, you don't understand.
That day at the soccer field was the first time.
So help me understand what happened.
He was crying.
I followed him in there to make sure he was okay.
The next thing I know, we're having sex.
And that seems like a perfectly natural segue to you? Yes.
You didn't notice that Shane was trying to get away from you? The first time.
But after that, he couldn't get enough.
It was his idea to run.
You always take orders from sixth graders? My life is fallin' apart and I don't know why.
Now look, what are you gonna do? You're obviously attracted to young boys.
This is a nightmare.
I swear I have never done anything like this before.
What, being caught? You have.
On tape.
Now you've to deal with it.
I am not a pedophile.
I love my husband.
I love my job.
I'll bet you do.
A lot of young boys to choose from.
Stop it.
Tell me what you did to the child.
That's a bad idea.
Come on, let's get it on.
Are you crazy? You're out of your mind! Is there a problem here? No problem.
I think she's going for an insanity defense.
She's having a seizure.
Call an ambulance.
The tox screen is clean.
We're still waiting for the head CT.
Oh, yeah.
I don't know what the hell happened in there.
It was an accident.
She assaulted you and you have witnesses, Elliot.
Rat Squad IAB at 2:00.
Sgt.
Tucker.
Det.
Stabler.
Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but I'll be waiting for my union rep.
Smart move if you got something to hide.
He was sexually assaulted.
Oh, what a surprise.
The partner's gonna back him up.
Yeah, how would you feel if a perp had your boys in a vise grip? Cuff her, not bash her brains in.
I thought I used appropriate force.
I was just reading up about your thoughts.
Suspended four years ago for tellin' the company shrink you, uh, dreamed about killin' pedophiles.
Thought about it, never did it.
You're gettin' closer and closer.
Detectives? How is she? Not good.
We found something in her CT.
We're rushing her into surgery right now.
From a blow to the head? No.
This was a pre-existing condition.
Brain tumor, the size of a baseball.
We were in there eight hours.
It looks like we got it all.
Great.
Now here's my problem.
The law says she needs to be arraigned within 24 hours of her arrest.
Uh, I just opened up this woman's skull, and excised a malignant lesion I'm afraid you're gonna miss that deadline.
Well, I've gotten an abeyance, but I still need to proceed in a timely manner.
She'll be in the hospital for five, six days.
All right, that's fine.
I can get a judge and a clerk down here for a bedside arraignment.
I wasn't aware that judges made house calls.
Just tell me when she'll be lucid enough to be swearable.
May I ask what exactly is she charged with? She molested a 12-year-old whom she subsequently kidnapped.
You do know that frontal lobe damage can diminish impulse control.
This woman knew what she was doing was wrong.
You know, that's right.
The area of the brain that stores moral knowledge is not affected, but look at this.
This is Meredith's head CT.
The tumor is here.
In the right orbitofrontal cortex which controls behavior.
That's fascinating, but I'm not performing brain surgery here.
I'm just trying to get a pedophile off the street.
Without the tumor, she might not be one anymore.
So what? Give her a doctor's note? "Please excuse Meredith for molesting boys.
She had a bad tumor.
" To tell you the truth, this looks like a textbook case of acquired sociopathy.
Well, how do I know the tumor caused it? Maybe she'd been a predator all along, and the tumor just made her sloppy? I doubt it.
Shane is our only known victim.
Not as of this morning.
Three additional boys have come forward.
Raped? No, one sent to her office was hugged and kissed.
The other two were fondled.
When? All in the last month.
She's committed multiple felonies.
She has to pay for them.
Not if she lacked the mens rea.
It's obvious that the lesion disinhibited her.
The question you have to answer is: Did she act on these pedophilic tendencies before the tumor? And are those tendencies still there? Understand, this test is still in the experimental stages.
So we'll be viewing her PET scan in here while she's watching the erotic videos on those goggles.
Yeah, brain-mapping is not an exact science yet.
But we do know the areas of the brain that respond to arousal and pleasure.
And we'll be able to view activity on the anterior singulate? Trust me, you won't.
I no longer have those feelings.
What is that exactly? It's a very tiny amount of radiation.
The same exposure you'd get flying across the country five times.
We're good to go.
How're you feeling? Like my old self again.
Well, we really appreciate your cooperation.
I want to do this.
Hopefully, this test will give us some answers.
Please believe me.
I tried to stop.
Did you? I knew it was wrong.
But the urges were so strong that they just took over my mind, my body.
L I couldn't control myself.
Every day it got worse.
I am the last person who would ever do anything like this.
Why? I know the damage it can cause.
When did it happen to you? It started when I was eight.
It lasted four years.
Was it someone that you knew? Someone I loved.
My grandfather.
Ready? So that's a pedophile's brain, huh? No, this is.
One who's currently incarcerated.
According to Meredith Rice's PET scan, she's no longer a threat to society.
She showed no reaction to the pedophilic stimuli.
If she had, the area right in here would be red.
Unless it meets the Daubert test for scientific reliability, it's not admissible in court.
Well, look at the handwriting.
I mean, it went back to normal as soon as the tumor was removed.
So what do we do, we let her go? Oh, if we let her off, it opens the door for every rapist and violent criminal who wants to find a medical excuse.
Yeah, and tomorrow there'll be a run on the PET scan lab.
Wouldn't it be great if that was true, if we could actually isolate the part of the brain that makes somebody a pedophile? And they could be fixed.
How? Mandatory screenings at birth to zap some part of the brain we don't even know exists? The tumor changed her behavior, but that alone didn't make her a pedophile.
She had a lower set point to begin with.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? She was molested as a child, and like having any predisposition to high blood pressure or cholesterol, she had a higher risk of becoming an offender.
But she never acted on it until the tumor wiped out her impulse control.
I found a similar case in Virginia.
Upstanding citizen, loving husband and father, became a pedophile out of the blue.
Let me guess.
Same brain tumor.
It was discovered in jail.
It was removed and he was considered cured.
Did they release him? Yeah.
A year later, he molested again.
So it wasn't the tumor at all? No, it was the tumor.
It had just grown back.
So it's not her fault and she's perfectly cured, but if the lesion recurs, she'll do it again.
What are you gonna do, Counselor? She pleads to Rape Three, five years probation and periodic psychiatric and medical evaluations.
We might be amenable to that.
I'm not done yet.
She's also not to have any future contact with any of her victims.
Of course not.
There are already restraining orders in place.
We're not contesting them.
And she registers as a sex offender.
What? Come on, Casey.
Is that really necessary? Yes.
The registry was set up to protect the public from sexual predators at risk of offending again.
But that's not me.
This only happened because of the tumor.
What are you going to do if it grows back? She gets branded a sex offender, she can never work in the school system again.
She can never work with kids.
Better safe than sorry.
Then I think we'll take our chances at trial.
This is a noble woman who suffered a freak brain tumor.
Everyone fears the Big C.
Once I remind the jurors it could happen to any one of them, they'll acquit.
No.
I'll take the plea.
Meredith, you don't need to do that.
Yes, I do.
She's right.
The children have to be protected.
It's a responsibility I need to take.
You're getting pretty good.
It doesn't matter.
I dropped out of band and soccer.
If I could, I'd drop out of school.
Kids giving you a hard time? Jason Rice slugged me in the cafeteria.
He said he'd kick my ass for busting up his family.
He said he'd kill me.
I'll talk to him, okay? Why won't she talk to me? I must have called her a 100 times and she never picked up.
Shane, she can't.
She goes to jail if she does.
She talked to me.
She cared about me.
I thought she loved me.
Shane, she was very sick.
And what she did, it's it's not your fault.
And she's better now, but I gotta tell you, I'm more concerned about you.
I just wanna die.
Then we're going to get you some help.
Trust me, you're gonna get over this.
The real damage hasn't even begun to set in for Shane.
This kid's gonna need extensive therapy.
And a strong support system.
He's not gonna get that at home.
Not with his mother.
I think she's the reason why Shane was susceptible to a mother figure in the first place.
The kid's so screwed up, he doesn't even know he's a victim.
He still thinks he's in love with Meredith.
It's unfortunate that his first sexual experience was non-consensual.
But it's even worse that he developed feelings for his abuser.
What are the odds that he's going to have a healthy sex life? Not good.
But they're ideal that he'll become an offender himself.
The cycle of abuse just keeps turning.
So when he grows up, he's gonna have a low opinion of women and be able to rationalize having sex with a child.
How do you stop that from happening? I think the answer lies in Meredith herself.
If she truly wants to help Shane, she'll let us study her brain.
Maybe we can really locate the part that creates a pedophile and then fix it.
Meredith Rice hasn't changed.
Patrol just responded to an incident at her address.
My partner's with the victim.
She took a pretty bad beating.
She's going after another boy? This one fought back.
You've got it backwards.
There's no boy involved.
So who attacked her? You heard the woman.
She's not pressing charges.
I am.
Oh, Mrs.
Madden, what happened here? That perverted bitch is still chasing my little boy! Is that true? I can explain.
Tell it to the judge.
She broke her restraining order.
I want her arrested.
What did she do? She called Shane, in my home.
Thank God I happened to pick up the extension.
What's wrong with you? Everything.
And you think the best person to commiserate with is your 12-year-old victim? That's not why I called him.
Tell them.
Tell them why you called Shane! It doesn't matter why she called him.
You broke one of the conditions of your probation.
Which means you're under arrest.
I thought he had a right to know.
Know what? I'm pregnant.
And I did agonize, but I felt like he needed to know.
He is the father.
She's having my baby's baby.
Let's go.
I want it terminated.
It's not your decision, ma'am.
You have no say over her reproductive rights.
You didn't need to lay this on the little boy.
What were you doin'? I don't know.
My husband's leavin' me, my stepson won't even talk to me, I've lost my home, my job, and the irony is, all I've ever wanted is a baby of my own.
Be careful what you wish for, huh?
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.
Double chai latte, half caf, whipped cream.
Bathroom this way? Hold on.
Hello? The quarterly reports aren't on your desk 'cause you asked me to pick them up on my way in.
Not good.
They spiral-bound them.
Yes, I know that makes you crazy.
That's why they're redoing them as we speak.
I told him, velo binding.
No, I can't hand him the phone.
He said it'd take 20 minutes, so I ran next door for a cup of Damn it! Oh.
What? What the hell is this? Digital CCD, waterproofed, pinhole lens.
A spy camera.
Taking some very candid photos.
Video, actually.
High resolution.
Do you have any idea how long it's been here? These puppies burn batteries pretty quickly.
Three, four hours, tops.
remaining.
It was set up less than two hours ago.
So where's the video? The camera was hooked up to this micro-transmitter.
Could've been recording as far as a block away.
Or as close as the next room.
Getting way too easy to invade someone's privacy.
A guy just has to turn on his computer and pick up the signal.
Peeping Toms have gone high-tech on us.
You used to have to go outside and hide in the bushes.
Now you can violate somebody by sitting in front of your computer enjoying a cup of coffee.
Which one of them is a pervert? The guy who downloaded the most crap.
Where are we on the potty perv? I've got a thumbprint on the bottom of the transmitter but no matches.
Any of the cafe patrons looking good? The ones that'd used the john just looked freaked out.
TARU searched the hard drives.
Nothing.
Figure our guy was watching it live, high-tailed it out of there when the complaining witness found the camera.
Gives a whole new meaning to "live, streaming video.
" You're either looking for a urophiliac, that's a sexual attraction to urine or a copraphiliac.
That's Okay, let's not go there.
This stuff I just don't get.
Well, these aren't heavily-studied paraphilias, but they're often the result of an abusive childhood.
The outside world is so hostile that these kids turn inward on themselves.
And then they become fixated by their bodily functions.
This guy dangerous? Probably not.
But he's antisocial.
The crime's voyeuristic and he didn't have any physical contact with his victims.
Still, we've already got more calls on this guy than on the Midtown Rapist, and I'd like to put him out of commission.
Maybe we can track him down through his spy-cam equipment.
You name it, we can put a camera in it.
Alarm clocks, buttons, shoes Now what do you need a camera in your shoe for unless you gonna look up a girl's dress? Hey, this is a legit business.
I sell a lot to the Department.
I'm a licensed PI myself.
What's this? Hmm, pedophiles must love this thing.
It's a nanny-cam in the left eye.
Who knows how many young lives this has saved? We talked to one of your competitors.
He said he thought this looked like your work.
Well, it could be.
I don't do the special orders myself.
Who does? Charlie.
Works in the back.
Parts are from various kits.
No serial numbers.
Really no way of tracin' it.
Did you put it together? Look, I do so many custom jobs, it's really hard to keep it all straight.
Charlie, unless this is a cleverly disguised camera, that information should be in here, right? Let me try searching for an order using the same various components, okay? No, no.
How many itty-bitty cameras could you have made? In the last year? About 500.
Well, this one was waterproof, so that's got to narrow it down.
Hey, wait a minute, this might be something.
Six months ago, a customer came in and he ordered five of them.
What's his name? "F.
E.
Tischman.
" "Fetish Man.
" "Fetishmanor.
Net.
" Are you in charge here? I'm the production manager.
Gil Tanner.
Oh, your call was a half-an-hour ago.
Get your asses in there.
Keep your pants on.
We're coming.
Gil, what exactly are you shooting in there? Porn.
All perfectly legal.
Broadcast live over the internet 24l7.
Anything goes? As long as no one gets hurt.
We supply the models, you direct the action.
We've got more positions than the Kama Sutra.
You must have a lot of cameras to catch all those angles.
Closed set.
Uh, yeah, the house has over a 100.
Including five toilet cams? There's only one in the bowl itself.
Our heavy hits are in the showers and the hot tubs.
Gil, we've got a situation with the Chinese Spinning Basket.
Copy.
I'm on it.
Hey, Gil.
You ever shoot on location? Like, say, a coffee house? Why? I've got a one-stop fetish shop right here.
It's an f'in cash cow.
So all of your toilet cams are accounted for, huh? Believe me, I'd be the first to know if that website went dark.
Feel free to check it out.
Can you believe this fetishmanor.
Net had over 300,000 hits? Casey says we don't have enough to subpoena their subscriber lists.
No, ma'am, we haven't recovered any videos yet.
To be honest, I have no idea how we're going to identify the victims.
Liv, uh, Mr.
Carson here saw the video voyeur on the news.
He needs to talk to somebody about it.
I take it you used the facility at the cafe yesterday? No, I work in the building next door.
He believes he might have run into our perp.
A gentleman with a laptop.
Where? On the sidewalk.
I was getting off a taxi and this guy practically knocked me over getting into it.
What time? How do you know he was coming from the cafe? I recognized their logo on the coffee cup, which he spilled all over me.
Okay.
Can you describe him? White, late 20s, dark hair.
About my height and wore glasses.
Are you on an expense account? Yeah, why? Well, your receipt can tell us the cab number.
The dispatcher should be able to tell us where he dropped him off.
We're looking for a computer geek who carries a laptop? I don't know his name, but sounds like someone I've seen in the building.
Do you know which apartment? First door on the right.
That'd be 1A.
Know anything else about him? Just that he creeps me out.
He never makes eye contact, just stares at people's asses.
Mr.
Donato! TV's on.
Somebody's home.
If there's any poetic justice, we caught him in the bathroom.
Hey, if it isn't Charlie the spy girl.
You know her? She's the technician from the camera shop.
What do you want now? Let's take another crack at who you made that toilet cam for.
Here's a clue: He lives in this apartment.
It's my baby brother Wade.
You live together? Well, I'm actually He has trouble holding down a job and he asked if he could spend a few weeks on my couch and it turned into three years.
Now that's sisterly love: Free room, and board, and surveillance equipment.
Look, you guys, this is my fault, you know.
I should have never made it for him.
You knew that he was a pervert.
He's not.
He he's just troubled.
I've always had to look out for him.
We didn't have a pleasant childhood, right? You seem to be high functioning.
Wade took the brunt of the abuse.
He's a very sensitive boy.
I think the people he caught with their pants down might disagree.
Is this where the little peeper keeps his stuff? Please don't, Wade doesn't want anyone touchin' his things.
Just a peek.
No.
Charlie.
Your brother is sick, okay? You're not doing him any favors.
Help us stop him so we can get him the counseling he needs.
"Urine Luck"? It must be good.
They're sequels.
What are you doing? Admiring your video collection.
Wade, these are detectives.
They know.
I didn't break any laws.
You did if you took any of these without the subject's consent.
Now, uh, these look homemade, Wade.
I can explain.
Let's go back to our place.
You'll love our facilities.
Seriously, Wade, just tell me.
What do you get out of it? I really don't feel like discussing it.
Wade, I've got to commend you on your fine penmanship.
Our friend here has been keeping a journal, detailing his toilet tour of Manhattan.
You had no right to read that.
You had no right to shoot the crap.
The witness you ran over fleeing from the scene of the crime positively ID'ed you.
That's how we got our search warrant.
I can't stand people touching my things.
Did you get anything off his computer? Footage from the cafe, yeah.
Oh, did he write about it in his journal? Try May 2, 8:05 a.
m.
Please don't do this.
"Female subject, fat butt.
Urination, 33-second duration, marigold yellow.
" I wasn't hurting anyone.
No, you violated hundreds of people.
The videos were for my own private use.
No one else was ever gonna see them.
Just let me pay the fine so I can go.
It doesn't work that way anymore.
They passed Stephanie's Law in August.
Video voyeurism is now an E-felony.
One to four years.
Per count.
No way.
You serve those consecutively, you're lookin' at a life sentence.
I wanna make a deal.
Well, unfortunately, you don't have anything we want.
No, I do.
A real crime.
Yeah, what is it? If you catch the guy, will you reduce my sentence? Depends.
What have you got? Check out DVD 62 about an hour in.
This is from two weeks ago.
"Saturday, 1:00 p.
m.
" I'll spare you the details.
The next one's three minutes after this.
It's marked "NS.
" What's "NS"? "No Specimen.
" Here we go.
Oh, no.
Not a kid.
Check out his right eye.
It looks like he's been attacked.
Recently.
Maybe he ran in there to hide? Look, the door's shaking.
Someone must have followed him in.
Don't open the door.
The camera's going out.
The toilet perv caught a sexual assault.
And didn't do a thing to stop it.
You watched that boy being molested? What are you doing? Look.
Oh! Where were you? Where were you? I don't know what you're talking about.
You were standing right outside.
No.
Watching.
No, no.
I saw it later.
Wade, don't lie to me.
That's not your MO.
You like a live show.
You saw that whole thing go down, you didn't even help? What was I supposed to do? Help him! Yeah, I told the cops that I caught the whole thing on my toilet cam.
Where did it happen? Central Park.
The camera didn't catch the guy's face.
Describe him.
I was on a bench I never saw him.
Can't get what's not there.
All we have is the perp's blue sweatshirt and jeans.
What about the boy? We'll never get an ID.
It's too grainy.
We have some new technology on loan from NASA.
Let's see what it can do.
The software is a video image stabilization system called VISAR.
That's what they used to solve that car wash abduction down in Florida.
That's amazing.
You could see just how fresh the cut over his eye is.
Not to mention eye color: Blue.
I'll print it out for you.
No, hold on, hold on.
Go back out.
There's a section that we kept replaying.
We couldn't quite make it out.
Right there.
Go back a few frames.
Zoom in.
Something in the perp's hand.
Can you enhance it? That's an athletic cup.
He must have been playing some kind of sport in the park.
He's wearing a soccer jersey.
Well, that explains the cut over his eye.
Probably got injured during the game.
Yeah, which the pedophile may have been watching.
Guys, we've got something else.
What? The nails are manicured.
The tips are white.
Our molester is a woman.
Well, that certainly narrows the suspect pool.
Only 10 percent of all pedophiles are female.
That we know of.
It's definitely understudied and probably underreported.
Patrol had a walk in the park that day.
No one reported so much as a mugging.
Which bathroom are we talking about? Wade says that it was close to the Boathouse Cafe.
The nearest facility is Midtown here.
There're a lot of practice fields in that area.
The journal said the attack occurred around 1:03 p.
m.
I checked the team schedules.
The closest field reserved for soccer was Vipers vs.
Bulldogs.
The boy's jersey was red and black.
That's the Bulldogs.
Talk to their coach.
That's Shane Madden, our star forward.
Anything unusual happen at that game? Yeah, we were actually winning for once until Shane got thrown out.
For what? Fighting with the other team's sweeper.
Any adults get involved? Shane's mom ran onto the field: A real piece of work.
How so? She's got a little too much team spirit in the liquid form.
So she was drunk.
Sure wasn't feeling any pain, not even when she fell on her ass.
Trying to break up a fight? No.
Joining in.
She assaulted a kid? Verbally.
She slipped in the mud before she could reach him and then she teetered off to clean herself up.
I assume to the nearest restroom.
How long after all that did Shane leave? Right away.
He never came back.
Any other women leave the game around that time? Not that I noticed.
What school does Shane go to? Trumpet section, last chair on the right.
You noticed any behavioral changes in the last two weeks? I don't have much interaction with him.
Shane's a good student.
Only problem cases get sent to the principal's office.
We're gonna need to speak to his homeroom teacher.
Uh, Fred Moynihan, Room 109.
Do you have a place where we can speak to Shane privately? You're welcome to use my office.
Go ahead and pull him out, please.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Shane.
It was caught on tape.
There was a hidden camera in the bathroom.
It wasn't me.
Well, it looks just like you.
Even wearing your jersey.
Who was it? Is it a stranger or someone you know? A stranger.
Can you describe her? Why? I thought you had her picture.
We do.
We just need you to tell us anything you can remember about her.
You know what, I I really don't want to do this.
Shane, you have nothing to be ashamed of.
You didn't do anything wrong.
You guys suck.
What happened? We're gonna need to talk to his parents.
I don't know.
There's just a mother and I use the term loosely.
So you know about her problem? She came to speak to the kids on Career Day.
It was horrible.
Great lesson on the perils of drinking, though.
What exactly is Mrs.
Madden's career? A beautician.
She works at a place called Creme de la Crop.
The little girls just love him.
They call him all the time.
Ma'am, do you understand what happened to your son? He's a gorgeous kid, just like his father.
Girls couldn't keep their hands off him either.
Well, we're talking about an adult.
Who would do something like that? We understand that you had a little mishap at the game.
Some idiot knocked me in a mud puddle.
Where'd you go to clean yourself up? Bathroom.
Happen to run into your son there? No.
Would you mind if we took a look at your nails? Why? What the hell are you implying? Just that you both were in the restroom at the same time.
I used the one at the Boathouse Cafe and then stayed for a drink.
All right, how long were you there for? Oh, let's see.
I was finishing my second beverage when Shane came and pulled me out.
Did he say anything about what had happened? No, but who talks about sex with their mother? Did you notice any female spectators who didn't have a son there? Cindy Bellamy.
And who's that? Shane's babysitter until about a month ago.
Used to love her, but one day ups and throws a fit.
Says he doesn't need her anymore.
What was she doin' there? I have no idea.
I went to more of Shane's games than his own mom.
Uh, while I was there, I networked a little, picked up three other gigs.
So you were babysittin' another kid that day? Yeah, Davey Auerbach.
Come on, Alex, Dylan? Five minute time-out.
Separate rooms, come on.
Told you.
You've got quite a way with the boys there.
Yeah, I'm strict, but I always make sure they have fun.
And 12 to 15 hours is nothing to sneeze at.
Shame you were fired from the Madden gig.
Shane said he was too old for a babysitter.
But too young for a girlfriend.
I'd never do that to a kid.
I'm dating one of my professors.
I like them older.
Now if you'll excuse me.
Did you talk to Shane at that game? Yeah.
I asked if things had gotten any better with his mom.
There was a problem? She's a total alky.
I heard she was really knockin' them back at that game.
I can't tell you how many times I was babysitting, she showed up hours late, blotto.
A lot of times with a younger guy than who she left with.
Must be rough on Shane.
God knows what he's seen.
When she's drunk, Mrs.
Madden has no idea what she's doing.
We're seriously looking at the mother? She was in the vicinity at the time of the attack.
Witnesses say she was drunk.
And when she drinks, she gets horny for younger guys.
When I was on the bottle, I woke up with my share of regrettable bedmates.
But her own son? The more you drink, the blinder you get.
And her alcoholic blackouts are legend.
We canvassed the building.
Everyone had a horror story.
Like the time she woke up so drunk she couldn't find her own bathroom.
Ended up pounding on a neighbor's door at 3:00 a.
m.
, asking to use his.
Naked.
So at the very least, we're looking at an unfit mother.
Where's the father? Babysitter said he split years ago.
Apparently Shane took over some of his duties.
Okay, but in the bedroom? You know how big a role alcohol plays in sexual assault.
Before we stagger down this road, let's not rule out other possibilities.
Shane's team has a game tomorrow.
It should be the same crowd.
Chat up the cheering sections, see if anybody saw anything.
Check out the redhead.
Blue sweatshirt and jeans.
Just like the perp in the video.
Ma'am? Yes? "Soccer Mom.
" That's what it says.
You got a boy on the team? Do you? No, but we'd like to talk to you about your outfit.
What about it? Did you wear it to the game two weeks ago? I wear it to all the games.
The Booster Club pushes them to pay for the pizza parties.
Every mom in the league's got one.
Of course I bought a shirt.
Got to support my little man! Probably appreciate it a lot more if you were sober.
Screw you.
Ma'am, have you been drinking? No.
No? Mind if I examine your travel cup? Oops.
Okay, Mrs.
Madden, you're in violation of Code 10-125 and we could arrest you right now.
What do you want from me? Is this a school team? No, it's sponsored through the city.
Shane's principal, Mrs.
Rice, does she have a son on the team? No.
What's she doing here? Awfully close to the student body.
She's awful popular around here.
Looks like she has a thing for young boys in uniform.
Principal Rice? Hey, good to see you again.
Detectives.
Who's this young man? Jason.
My son.
Really? You look way too young to have a son this age.
Stepson.
Oh.
His team just won.
Congratulations.
Do you play in the same league as Shane? Jason's 14.
He's in an older division.
But it's the same league.
Where's your "Soccer Mom" shirt? I'm not big on sweatshirts.
What are you talkin' about? You wear that stupid thing all the time.
Yeah? Does your mom come to all your games? Oh, yeah.
She's a diehard soccer fan.
Must be.
We saw you hanging out at the Pee-Wee League.
I ran into a student.
Shane Madden.
Did you run into him two weeks ago? No.
I'm sorry.
We're late for a pizza party.
What do we know about the principal? No criminal records.
Just a lifetime of good deeds.
A stint in the Peace Corps, volunteer work, set up an adult literacy program.
She was IS-41's Teacher of the Year in '96 and '98, promoted to principal three years ago.
Nice gig for a pedophile.
Absolute power over all those kids.
It's just odd that there's never been so much as an allegation.
What about her personal life? Married seven years to an architect, one stepson.
Who happens to be two years older than the victim.
Well, most pedophiles don't get caught with their first victim.
Maybe she was fooling around with the stepson.
Easy access.
That's assuming that she's our perp.
Can we place her at the game in question? We just sat through two riveting hours of a soccer video that I wrangled from some dad.
No signs of the principal, but he did catch Shane's mom fallin' on her ass.
Well, the outfit's a crime, but it's not a match.
Rules her out.
Principal Rice had to have been there.
Her kid said she goes to all of his games.
We checked out where her stepson plays.
The restroom is between the two fields.
Come on, that's circumstantial, at best.
Captain, you weren't there today.
She couldn't get away from us fast enough.
She never gave us a chance to find out what she and Shane were talking about.
Ask him.
Check out the stepson.
How do you get along with Meredith? Great.
For a stepmom.
Well, for any mom.
I really got lucky with her.
It sounds like you two are pretty tight.
Well, I was a brat when she first moved in, but she's totally cool now.
How so? Well, she helps with homework, comes to all my games, boring school plays, exciting stuff like that.
Sounds good.
No, it doesn't.
What are you doin' here? Just checkin' in.
You always come to school early to practice? Well, the noise, it, uh, gives my mom headaches.
Well, I don't think it's your playing that gives her a headache.
You know, Shane, I know you've got a tough situation at home.
My mom, she, uh, she just needs extra help, you know? She gets sick a lot.
Yeah.
When you feel like talking to someone, that's my business card and you can give these people a call.
Alateen? What's that? It's a support group for children of alcoholics.
Thanks.
Let's talk about your situation here at school.
There's no situation.
With Principal Rice.
What about her? I have to get to class.
We have her on tape.
No, you don't.
In that restroom.
Yeah, we do.
We talked to her.
She won't say anything to you.
Well, she has been getting a little weird lately.
How so? She and my dad have been fighting.
That's what married folks do.
Yeah, but not them.
They never fought before.
It's getting really bad, too.
She even yelled at me.
What did you get from the stepson? Nothing to indicate he'd been molested.
What about Shane? He give her up? As good as.
I just couldn't get him to say it.
Not enough to remove a principal from school.
Which way is the teacher's lounge? Meredith Rice.
She's as straight-laced as they come, but the kids still love her.
Did you ever see her interact with Shane Madden? Actually, she's pulled him from my class a couple of times recently.
For what? I don't know.
Shane handed me a note excusing him from gym class.
Tell you the truth, I thought it was fake.
Why is that? Looked like a kid wrote it.
But I double-checked.
Mrs.
Rice confirmed it was her handwriting.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
If Shane Madden passed through here, odds are he was written up.
Should be here in the Disciplinary Action File.
Principal Rice didn't write all these, did she? In a public school, a lot of at-risk kids.
I mean the handwriting.
It looks like different people wrote these.
No.
Meredith meets with each one of them.
You're right, she is getting a little sloppy.
Something weighing on her mind? She has been distracted lately, but aren't we all? So close to summer break.
Hmm, nothing on Shane.
Is Principal Rice available? Oh, I'm sorry.
She's not back yet.
Where is she? Home.
Family emergency.
Mr.
Rice, have you had any contact with your wife? No, just tell me.
Is she in some kind of danger, one of her problem students? Mr.
Rice, how's your marriage? W- What? What are you talking about? We heard you were fighting.
That's none of your business.
Well, actually, it might be.
At the time that your wife left school, a young man, a student, also went missing.
So what, you think he kidnapped her? We think she kidnapped him.
What are you talking about? Your wife's been molesting that boy.
That's a lie.
We have it on tape.
I'm sorry.
Have you noticed any inappropriate behavior between Meredith and your son? Now, I've got a 12-year-old boy who's in danger out there, and I need you to tell me what is going on with your wife! What is going on with her? I don't know.
She's changed.
No.
She's changed, hasn't she? Yes.
Yes.
Please let me go.
Relax.
She's changed.
She hasn't been herself lately.
She She's preoccupied.
She snaps at any little thing.
She's And in the bedroom she's insatiable.
Are you telling me that she's screwed She's not getting enough so she's screwing a little boy on the side? We just need to find her.
Now do you have any idea where she might go? No.
Does she have access to a car? We have a car, but we don't use it very often.
Could you check with the garage? I got 911'ed out of my VICAP meeting.
We got a cluster? Shane Madden went missin'.
As did Principal Rice.
We're thinking they're together? Yeah, and getting out of Dodge.
Husband hasn't heard from her and she took his car.
Long gone by now.
We get out an APB? And an Amber alert.
And unfortunately, the blue Ford Taurus is a very popular make and model.
We're getting possible sightings from highways in the Tri-State area.
She's gotta stop for food or gas at some point.
We're tracking her ATM and credit cards? So far, no pops.
She's either using cash or Shane's piggy-bank.
Husband said the tank was near-empty.
We've got a sighting.
Where? Edgewater, New Jersey.
Trucker's right behind them on the exit.
Well, that's just outside the city.
How sure is he it's them? He gave me the full plate number.
Get movin'.
Get out of the vehicle! Move in! Shane? Back seat! Shane! Help! Exit the vehicle! Hands where we can see 'em! Go away! Comply, now.
Buddy, are you okay? I'm fine, but she's not.
She she's been throwing up.
Please don't let them hurt her.
Let's go.
She's sick.
All right.
She's sick.
You're under arrest for sexual assault and kidnapping of a minor.
You have the right to remain silent.
You give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
My head is splitting.
I think I need a doctor.
We've got a great company shrink you can see.
You've got to be out of your mind to be running off with a sixth grader.
I am not crazy.
I know it's wrong.
Good.
Taking responsibility.
That's the first step to setting it right.
Look, you don't understand.
That day at the soccer field was the first time.
So help me understand what happened.
He was crying.
I followed him in there to make sure he was okay.
The next thing I know, we're having sex.
And that seems like a perfectly natural segue to you? Yes.
You didn't notice that Shane was trying to get away from you? The first time.
But after that, he couldn't get enough.
It was his idea to run.
You always take orders from sixth graders? My life is fallin' apart and I don't know why.
Now look, what are you gonna do? You're obviously attracted to young boys.
This is a nightmare.
I swear I have never done anything like this before.
What, being caught? You have.
On tape.
Now you've to deal with it.
I am not a pedophile.
I love my husband.
I love my job.
I'll bet you do.
A lot of young boys to choose from.
Stop it.
Tell me what you did to the child.
That's a bad idea.
Come on, let's get it on.
Are you crazy? You're out of your mind! Is there a problem here? No problem.
I think she's going for an insanity defense.
She's having a seizure.
Call an ambulance.
The tox screen is clean.
We're still waiting for the head CT.
Oh, yeah.
I don't know what the hell happened in there.
It was an accident.
She assaulted you and you have witnesses, Elliot.
Rat Squad IAB at 2:00.
Sgt.
Tucker.
Det.
Stabler.
Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but I'll be waiting for my union rep.
Smart move if you got something to hide.
He was sexually assaulted.
Oh, what a surprise.
The partner's gonna back him up.
Yeah, how would you feel if a perp had your boys in a vise grip? Cuff her, not bash her brains in.
I thought I used appropriate force.
I was just reading up about your thoughts.
Suspended four years ago for tellin' the company shrink you, uh, dreamed about killin' pedophiles.
Thought about it, never did it.
You're gettin' closer and closer.
Detectives? How is she? Not good.
We found something in her CT.
We're rushing her into surgery right now.
From a blow to the head? No.
This was a pre-existing condition.
Brain tumor, the size of a baseball.
We were in there eight hours.
It looks like we got it all.
Great.
Now here's my problem.
The law says she needs to be arraigned within 24 hours of her arrest.
Uh, I just opened up this woman's skull, and excised a malignant lesion I'm afraid you're gonna miss that deadline.
Well, I've gotten an abeyance, but I still need to proceed in a timely manner.
She'll be in the hospital for five, six days.
All right, that's fine.
I can get a judge and a clerk down here for a bedside arraignment.
I wasn't aware that judges made house calls.
Just tell me when she'll be lucid enough to be swearable.
May I ask what exactly is she charged with? She molested a 12-year-old whom she subsequently kidnapped.
You do know that frontal lobe damage can diminish impulse control.
This woman knew what she was doing was wrong.
You know, that's right.
The area of the brain that stores moral knowledge is not affected, but look at this.
This is Meredith's head CT.
The tumor is here.
In the right orbitofrontal cortex which controls behavior.
That's fascinating, but I'm not performing brain surgery here.
I'm just trying to get a pedophile off the street.
Without the tumor, she might not be one anymore.
So what? Give her a doctor's note? "Please excuse Meredith for molesting boys.
She had a bad tumor.
" To tell you the truth, this looks like a textbook case of acquired sociopathy.
Well, how do I know the tumor caused it? Maybe she'd been a predator all along, and the tumor just made her sloppy? I doubt it.
Shane is our only known victim.
Not as of this morning.
Three additional boys have come forward.
Raped? No, one sent to her office was hugged and kissed.
The other two were fondled.
When? All in the last month.
She's committed multiple felonies.
She has to pay for them.
Not if she lacked the mens rea.
It's obvious that the lesion disinhibited her.
The question you have to answer is: Did she act on these pedophilic tendencies before the tumor? And are those tendencies still there? Understand, this test is still in the experimental stages.
So we'll be viewing her PET scan in here while she's watching the erotic videos on those goggles.
Yeah, brain-mapping is not an exact science yet.
But we do know the areas of the brain that respond to arousal and pleasure.
And we'll be able to view activity on the anterior singulate? Trust me, you won't.
I no longer have those feelings.
What is that exactly? It's a very tiny amount of radiation.
The same exposure you'd get flying across the country five times.
We're good to go.
How're you feeling? Like my old self again.
Well, we really appreciate your cooperation.
I want to do this.
Hopefully, this test will give us some answers.
Please believe me.
I tried to stop.
Did you? I knew it was wrong.
But the urges were so strong that they just took over my mind, my body.
L I couldn't control myself.
Every day it got worse.
I am the last person who would ever do anything like this.
Why? I know the damage it can cause.
When did it happen to you? It started when I was eight.
It lasted four years.
Was it someone that you knew? Someone I loved.
My grandfather.
Ready? So that's a pedophile's brain, huh? No, this is.
One who's currently incarcerated.
According to Meredith Rice's PET scan, she's no longer a threat to society.
She showed no reaction to the pedophilic stimuli.
If she had, the area right in here would be red.
Unless it meets the Daubert test for scientific reliability, it's not admissible in court.
Well, look at the handwriting.
I mean, it went back to normal as soon as the tumor was removed.
So what do we do, we let her go? Oh, if we let her off, it opens the door for every rapist and violent criminal who wants to find a medical excuse.
Yeah, and tomorrow there'll be a run on the PET scan lab.
Wouldn't it be great if that was true, if we could actually isolate the part of the brain that makes somebody a pedophile? And they could be fixed.
How? Mandatory screenings at birth to zap some part of the brain we don't even know exists? The tumor changed her behavior, but that alone didn't make her a pedophile.
She had a lower set point to begin with.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? She was molested as a child, and like having any predisposition to high blood pressure or cholesterol, she had a higher risk of becoming an offender.
But she never acted on it until the tumor wiped out her impulse control.
I found a similar case in Virginia.
Upstanding citizen, loving husband and father, became a pedophile out of the blue.
Let me guess.
Same brain tumor.
It was discovered in jail.
It was removed and he was considered cured.
Did they release him? Yeah.
A year later, he molested again.
So it wasn't the tumor at all? No, it was the tumor.
It had just grown back.
So it's not her fault and she's perfectly cured, but if the lesion recurs, she'll do it again.
What are you gonna do, Counselor? She pleads to Rape Three, five years probation and periodic psychiatric and medical evaluations.
We might be amenable to that.
I'm not done yet.
She's also not to have any future contact with any of her victims.
Of course not.
There are already restraining orders in place.
We're not contesting them.
And she registers as a sex offender.
What? Come on, Casey.
Is that really necessary? Yes.
The registry was set up to protect the public from sexual predators at risk of offending again.
But that's not me.
This only happened because of the tumor.
What are you going to do if it grows back? She gets branded a sex offender, she can never work in the school system again.
She can never work with kids.
Better safe than sorry.
Then I think we'll take our chances at trial.
This is a noble woman who suffered a freak brain tumor.
Everyone fears the Big C.
Once I remind the jurors it could happen to any one of them, they'll acquit.
No.
I'll take the plea.
Meredith, you don't need to do that.
Yes, I do.
She's right.
The children have to be protected.
It's a responsibility I need to take.
You're getting pretty good.
It doesn't matter.
I dropped out of band and soccer.
If I could, I'd drop out of school.
Kids giving you a hard time? Jason Rice slugged me in the cafeteria.
He said he'd kick my ass for busting up his family.
He said he'd kill me.
I'll talk to him, okay? Why won't she talk to me? I must have called her a 100 times and she never picked up.
Shane, she can't.
She goes to jail if she does.
She talked to me.
She cared about me.
I thought she loved me.
Shane, she was very sick.
And what she did, it's it's not your fault.
And she's better now, but I gotta tell you, I'm more concerned about you.
I just wanna die.
Then we're going to get you some help.
Trust me, you're gonna get over this.
The real damage hasn't even begun to set in for Shane.
This kid's gonna need extensive therapy.
And a strong support system.
He's not gonna get that at home.
Not with his mother.
I think she's the reason why Shane was susceptible to a mother figure in the first place.
The kid's so screwed up, he doesn't even know he's a victim.
He still thinks he's in love with Meredith.
It's unfortunate that his first sexual experience was non-consensual.
But it's even worse that he developed feelings for his abuser.
What are the odds that he's going to have a healthy sex life? Not good.
But they're ideal that he'll become an offender himself.
The cycle of abuse just keeps turning.
So when he grows up, he's gonna have a low opinion of women and be able to rationalize having sex with a child.
How do you stop that from happening? I think the answer lies in Meredith herself.
If she truly wants to help Shane, she'll let us study her brain.
Maybe we can really locate the part that creates a pedophile and then fix it.
Meredith Rice hasn't changed.
Patrol just responded to an incident at her address.
My partner's with the victim.
She took a pretty bad beating.
She's going after another boy? This one fought back.
You've got it backwards.
There's no boy involved.
So who attacked her? You heard the woman.
She's not pressing charges.
I am.
Oh, Mrs.
Madden, what happened here? That perverted bitch is still chasing my little boy! Is that true? I can explain.
Tell it to the judge.
She broke her restraining order.
I want her arrested.
What did she do? She called Shane, in my home.
Thank God I happened to pick up the extension.
What's wrong with you? Everything.
And you think the best person to commiserate with is your 12-year-old victim? That's not why I called him.
Tell them.
Tell them why you called Shane! It doesn't matter why she called him.
You broke one of the conditions of your probation.
Which means you're under arrest.
I thought he had a right to know.
Know what? I'm pregnant.
And I did agonize, but I felt like he needed to know.
He is the father.
She's having my baby's baby.
Let's go.
I want it terminated.
It's not your decision, ma'am.
You have no say over her reproductive rights.
You didn't need to lay this on the little boy.
What were you doin'? I don't know.
My husband's leavin' me, my stepson won't even talk to me, I've lost my home, my job, and the irony is, all I've ever wanted is a baby of my own.
Be careful what you wish for, huh?