| "Appearances" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 4.19 | → |
| Production number: E3110 First aired: 28 March 2003 | ||
 | ||
| Teleplay By Stephen Belber Story By Stephen Belber, Liz Friedman & Vanessa Place Directed By Alex Zakrzewski | ||
The body of a pageant girl discovered in a suitcase on a bus puts the detectives on the hunt for a serial pedophile with a fetish for child pageants,
Summary[]
After what is thought to be an initial bomb threat on a Manhattan public bus the NYPD bomb squad uncovers an eight-year-old girl’s body found in a suitcase. The case is handed over to SVU and after discovering that the girl was a beauty queen the detectives hunt for a pedophile with a fetish for child pageants.
Plot[]
On a field trip, a student tells his teacher about a suitcase he found. The teacher immediately contacts NYPD to call the bomb squad out. The police find the body of a little girl inside the suit-case. The case is then handed over to Detectives Stabler and Benson. They discover that the girl was on the beauty pageant circuit.
The child's asphyxiated body is found with evidence of having been in the Everglades. The coroner found she had a quality nose job. Benson and Stabler find she was a regular beauty pageant contestant. The computer of a suspect, Tommy Hedges, is found with an instruction manual on how to kidnap, rape and murder children. The manual is apparently perfectly legal, because it was created using legal-age models whose images were manipulated by software to make them look much younger.
Tommy confessed to the murder but says he wouldn't have done it if not for the manufacturing company's repeated pestering. Tommy, a previously convicted pedophile, revealed that the company, Cyberloves, Inc., emailed him over 20 times to receive a trial of their product. Each time, he tried to unsubscribe from their mailing list so as to not give into temptation, but eventually, he gave into his curiosity with deadly results. In the end, the CEO of Cyberloves, Stanley Billings, is found guilty as an accessory to the murder of the girl (although his attorney has filed an appeal), whilst Tommy is serving 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
- Stephanie March as A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast[]
- John Cullum as Defense Attorney Barry Moredock
- Peter Hermann as Defense Attorney Trevor Langan
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Sheila Tousey as Judge Danielle Larsen
- Joel de la Fuente as T.A.R.U. Technician Ruben Morales
Guest cast[]
- Eric Thal as Tommy Hedges
- Julie Boyd as Mrs. Lathan
- Susan Kellermann as Mrs. Hedges
- Paul Doherty as Jeff Lathan
- Brian Kerwin as Stanley Billings
- Michael Hobbs as Mr. Roumel
- Gabriel Millman as Kevin Roumel
- Bailey Slattery as Amy Prescott
- Ellen Whyte as Mrs. Prescott
- Carolee Carmello as Sylvia Price
- Chan Casey as Rob Canotti
- Richard D'Alessandro as Bartender
- Scott Johnsen as Bomb Squad Detective
- William Oliver Watkins as ESU Sergeant
- Joe Rosario as Bus Driver
- Sherry Anderson as Mrs. Macnamara
- Winslett Wilson as Stacey
- Sean Sanders as Caleb
- Stephanie Schweitzer as Girl
- Jason Madera as Young Man
- Sandy Moore as Jury Foreman
- David Barroso as Student (uncredited)
References[]
- Canada
- California
- Cyberloves Incorporated
- Florida
- Georgia
- Jersey City, New Jersey
- Louisiana
- Mexico
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Oregon
- Texas
- Kathy Stabler
- Elizabeth Stabler
- Cherie Lathan (victim)
- U.S. v. Barnett
- Osama bin Laden
- JonBenét Ramsey
Quotes[]
- Benson: We got ourselves a dead beauty queen.
- Kevin Roumel: [to the detectives] You can't violate my civil liberties just because I've got a good imagination.
- Kevin's Father: He'll give you a sample.
- Kevin: You can't force me.
- Munch: Sure he can. Parental consent is all we need till you're sixteen.
- Kevin Roumel: This isn't fair. You fascists lay one finger on me, I will sue!
- Kevin's Father: Sit down, you little prick. [pulls out a strand of Kevin's hair] Will this do?
- Stabler: What do we know about these three upright citizens in Florida?
- Tutuola: Well, one died in a car crash, and the parole officers for the other two say they're squeaky clean.
- Stabler: Squeaky clean sex offender, now that's a new one.
- Fin: I don't like sweating old ladies. It offends my sense of decorum.
- [Analyzing Hedges' laptop and finds hidden child porn]
- Morales: His parole officer probably missed it. They were hidden by the s-tools software.
- Benson: S-tools?
- Morales: Yeah, s is short for stenography. From the Greek meaning hidden writing. Mainly used by spies to send concealed messages.
- Stabler: So, it just downloads child porn and disguises it with this... stegosaurus stuff.
- Stabler: This is so wrong. You're saying the Constitution allows someone to publish a blueprint for child rape, as long as he calls it art?
- Cragen: As the wise man once said, I can resist everything but temptation.
- Barry Moredock: Thousands of people are protesting the war and burning flags, you want to stomp on them, too? Where would it all end, Alex? Don't be upset. In this case, everybody won.
- Cabot: Not Cherie Lathan.
Background information and notes[]
- This episode was originally scheduled to air on March 21, 2003, but it was postponed to a later date due to media coverage of United States war in Iraq.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Banner Hall |
Prescott Residence |
Jersey City Library |
Manson & Branch |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cyberloves Incorporated |
Rikers Island |
Trial Part 35 |
Trial Part 35 |
| Previous episode: "Desperate" |
"Appearances" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 4 |
Next episode: "Dominance" |