Damien Woods is the nephew of disabled rape victim Cara Raleigh, who was repeatedly physically abused by his mother and her sister, Janice Raleigh. Janice hated her sister for previously being a phenomenal singer and beat her when she got multiple sclerosis out of revenge. Damien is the only surviving member of Cara's family who genuinely loved and regularly took care of her and kept her company, doing all he could to give her the love and nurturing she was denied by others around her at the time.
Cara was raped by volunteer bus driver Tony Griegs, which Damien volunteered most of all to help her recover from. Janice's abuse was revealed, but when she was exonerated, even Damien was suspected of raping Cara, but she refused to incriminate him for something he didn't do. When he was horrified to find out Griegs raped her, he locked him in his bus and beat him, which nearly cost the squad the case. When Griegs was finally arrested then Cara agreed to testify, she and Damien personally met with Janice to reveal she wasn't being charged to show her clemency, but Damien was assigned power of attorney over Cara and her medical treatment. Despite Janice's threats, Damien wheeled Cara out silently, while scoldingly glaring at Janice on their way out. He attended Cara's testimony against Griegs, which led to Griegs' imprisonment. (SVU: "Disabled")