Jeb Curtis was a church reverend who was nearly framed for murder.
History[]
As mentioned by Det. John Munch, he was a religious man who founded his church and was known for his stance against homosexuality. When his assistant Trent Labette caught Curtis' son Paul kissing another man Richard, he insisted that Curtis intervened before a scandal is launched. Curtis subsequently sent his son to a camp in order for him to have his sexuality "corrected" but this did not work and only strained their relationship. Curtis also kept Richard away by paying him off, and Richard would use the money to fund his drug habit. However, Curtis caught wind of this and refused to give Richard any more money. He also did not tell his wife about his transactions, not wanting to burden her.
A year later, his oldest son Jonathan, a soldier, died in Afghanistan and Curtis was devastated. However, the death of his oldest son gave him a new perspective and he resolved not to push his son Paul away, because he could not bear to lose another child.
Sin[]
When Detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson meet Trent, they announce they came to see Reverend Curtis, but he tells them that he was holding a ceremony for his late son who died in the army. The detectives then held off on speaking to him for the family to mourn.
After the detectives start looking at Curtis as a suspect in the murder of Richard, Curtis agrees to go in for questioning, but is surprised by the media arriving with statements that make it appear that Curtis was having an affair with Richard and paying him to cover it up. This ultimately caused Curtis' wife Hannah to fly into a rage and shoot him for his lies but he survived and refused to press charges.
At the hospital Curtis continues to deny having a relationship with Richard, but vaguely hints that he is covering for someone. His statements caused the detectives to look into his son Paul, who had a strained relationship with him after it was revealed that he was gay. The Detectives bring Paul to visit Curtis and he reveals that he has come to terms with his son's sexuality, because he couldn't lose Paul like he lost his oldest son. Paul was happy to hear that and started to bring up Richard but Curtis stopped him from saying any more incriminating evidence in front of the detectives, but his statement causes everyone to see he believed Paul killed Richard and he was only covering for him. This leads the detectives to realize that neither he nor Paul were the murderer, but they inquired on who was and Curtis was asked who else knew about Paul and Richard, before Curtis realized it had to be his assistant Trent who notified him about the relationship. It also became apparent that Trent was the one who tipped off the media because he was trying to take down the reverend and frame him.
In the end, Trent was arrested and Curtis was visited by his wife and both shared apologies for not trusting one another with the truth. Curtis forgave his wife and shared a happy moment with her and their son.(SVU: "Sin")