Law and Order
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Carla Lowenstein is the horrifically battered and traumatized ex-wife of psychopathic drug addict Dr. Jacob Lowenstein. She in turn abused their children, killing one of them, and served her sentence in prison before her release.

Background[]

Carla was forced into dependence on Jacob early on in their marriage, as she'd be beaten, raped, and forced to take cocaine so she'd be susceptible. Jacob cheated on her regularly with his psychotherapy patients, with whom he also supplied cocaine. Carla was ordered by Jacob to beat and torture the children to make them subservient, her daughter Dierdre prepped for Jacob to rape her as well. Numerous abuse allegations were filed by Didi's teacher, but the principal saw more of a public rep concern if attention was brought, and the reports weren't followed through with.

On L&O[]

One day when Carla was high, Jacob ordered her to beat Didi again. She was left barely conscious to lay in a large puddle of her blood on the floor, then sent to school. She barely responded during naptime in class, so paramedics were called immediately. Carla refused the detectives inside, but she was later arrested when she near burning her son Ezra's hand with scalding water. She was brought to a psychiatric division for detoxing, and she both refused and struggled to cooperate in her poor state of health.

She and Jacob, who was detained before her after having cocaine-fueled sex with a patient, were released and returned home, where Jacob beat Carla again, badly enough her jaw was swollen at the joint. At this point, Didi died from the extent of her physical trauma. Carla was removed from the home and taken into custody, where she was given medical treatment, and Jacob was arrested in another one of his cocaine-fueled rages. After Carla was testified against on the standby the schoolteacher, she was encouraged to take a plea to manslaughter. In exchange, she testified on the stand to Jacob's violence and chokehold over the family, and forensic evidence presented his negligence of the very circumstances he primed.

The Lowensteins were found guilty of their respective charges. Carla received a sentence of seven to ten years in prison. (L&O: "Indifference")

Carla was released after she served her time while Jacob was still serving his sentence. She received immense counseling and was by all accounts reformed, recovered, and not just no longer a threat to society, but afraid of Jacob still being one like the almost all of rest of the world. Carla found work at a children's nursery, and Ezra, by this point, was adopted by the Grady family and raised in a safe and loving home.

When Jacob was hit by a car and later died from his injuries, Carla was questioned as a suspect. She said she completely changed her life routine to leave him behind, and she insisted she'd never kill him because he'd still have a hold on her pain and fear, that she never wanted to acknowledge him again. Van Buren, who personally questioned her, was plenty convinced and cleared her as a suspect. (L&O: "Fixed")

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