Presumed Guilty (Season 14, Episode 10)
Premise: Fin’s ex-brother-in-law is jailed for beating a priest he says he rescued, and clearing him uncovers a parish secret kept under the seal of confession.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 14, Episode 10
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Nick Amaro (Danny Pino), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), ME Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie)
- Guest stars
- Denis O’Hare as Father Chris Shea, Erik LaRay Harvey as Sam Randall, LisaGay Hamilton as Teresa Randall, Theo Rossi as Enrique Rodriguez, Tony Plana as Father Menendez
- Director
- Courtney Hunt
- Writers
- Story: John P. Roche; Written by: Kevin Fox
Summary
“Presumed Guilty” opens two days before Christmas, when Father Chris Shea, back in New York to visit his old parish, is dragged from his car and beaten unconscious just after nine-year-old Sofia Santiago brings him a card. Bystanders hold Sam Randall, a parolee, as a carjacker. His sister, Teresa, Fin’s ex-wife, turns up at the squad’s holiday party asking for help. Sam says he was pulling two men off the priest, whom they called a child molester, and saw a young girl run away.
Fin is skeptical, but Benson and Rollins keep digging. Sofia’s card in the car and a security video support Sam’s story. Shea, who left the parish ten years ago and now works at an orphanage in Guatemala, says Sam rescued him but will not press charges. With Barba away skiing, a newly arrived junior ADA refuses to free Sam, and he is held without bail, to the despair of his son, Dante. Sofia’s mother, Margarita, the parish secretary, defends Shea, and Sofia says two Spanish-speaking men in hoodies attacked him while a Black man tried to help. Warner finds blood from three men on the car and prints from Adam Benitez, who has twice beaten sex offenders.
Benitez, arrested while ringing a bell in a Santa suit, says he was with a friend whose sister the priest had abused. The friend, Enrique Rodriguez, says Shea abused his sister, Angelica, from age 12 and forced her to have an abortion at 13. Shea identifies Enrique in a lineup only so Sam can go free, and breaks down when confronted with Angelica’s account. But Angelica, now 22 and in rehab, says Shea was not her abuser. He found her bleeding after the abortion, heard her confession and was sent away. Shea will not name the man, citing the seal of confession. The detectives learn that Shea is Sofia’s father and that the abuser was the parish’s monsignor, Father Menendez, who confessed to Shea after Angelica came forward; Shea has returned every year since to hear Menendez’s confession, trusting his promise to stop. Told he broke the law by not reporting abuse, Shea agrees to testify.
Spoiler, the ending: On Christmas Eve, Fin talks a judge at home into releasing Sam into his custody, and Sam reaches Dante; Rollins, whose family is in Georgia, is pulled in to join their dinner. Amaro sends Benson off on her Bahamas trip. Judge Harrison signs the arrest warrant for Menendez but lets him finish Christmas Eve Mass, and before Amaro can make the arrest, Angelica shoots Menendez in the church.
Why it stands out
- Denis O’Hare reprises Father Shea, the priest he played in the 2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode “Last Rites,” one of the season’s crossovers with that series; O’Hare had appeared on SVU once before, in 2000.
- Erik LaRay Harvey plays Sam, the brother of Fin’s ex-wife, with LisaGay Hamilton as Teresa, Theo Rossi as Enrique and Tony Plana as Menendez.