Legitimate Rape (Season 14, Episode 18)
Premise: A sports reporter raped and stalked by her cameraman becomes pregnant, and the man she accuses turns the trial and then family court against her.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 14, Episode 18
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Nick Amaro (Danny Pino), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), ADA Rafael Barba (Raúl Esparza), Defense Attorney Roger Kressler (Ned Eisenberg), Judge Elana Barth (Jenna Stern), Defense Attorney Rita Calhoun (Elizabeth Marvel)
- Guest stars
- Lauren Cohan as Avery Jordan, David Marciano as Rick Purcell, Robert Bogue as Jason Hollis, Reathel Bean as Fritz Showalter
- Director
- Jonathan Herron
- Writers
- Story: John P. Roche; Written by: Kevin Fox & Peter Blauner
Summary
“Legitimate Rape” follows sports reporter Avery Jordan, who meets Benson privately to say a co-worker raped her in her apartment after a July Fourth road trip six weeks earlier. She comes forward only because her cameraman, Rick Purcell, is now stalking her. Purcell tells Fin and Rollins she invited him in and hints she is sleeping with a network anchor. Once the lab finds semen from two men on her bedspread, Avery admits an affair with Jason Hollis, a married anchor and former ballplayer, who has been sent a hidden-camera video of the two of them in her hotel room. Barba charges Purcell with first-degree rape and aggravated stalking, and he is held on high bail. Avery, who was told she could never conceive and whose lover has had a vasectomy, then learns she is pregnant from the rape and decides to keep the baby.
At trial Benson testifies that copies of the secret photos sent to Avery were found on Purcell’s computer. Purcell then fires his lawyer and represents himself. He presses Hollis about the affair, asks Benson whether she hates men and cross-examines Avery about her wish for a child, claiming she told him to skip a condom; she concedes DNA shows he is the father. His expert, Congressman Fritz Showalter, an obstetrician, says victims of “legitimate rape” rarely become pregnant, but Barba shows he last published in 1974 and stopped practicing after a censure. The jury acquits Purcell of rape and convicts him of stalking; a juror says one holdout believed Showalter. Avery’s water breaks outside the courtroom, and her son, Theo, is born six weeks early.
Spoiler, the ending: Released with time served on the stalking count, Purcell sues for custody, which a rapist can do in many states. In family court, where lawyer Rita Calhoun represents Avery, the judge gives Avery full custody but grants Purcell two hours of supervised visits every Saturday. On the first visiting day Avery tells Benson she is leaving with Theo; Benson warns her she could be arrested and leaves when Calhoun arrives. As Purcell waits at the squad, he is told the baby is at the doctor with a fever, but Avery has flown out on a private plane to a country beyond extradition. Benson then starts to tell a colleague about her own father.
Why it stands out
- Showalter’s claim that “legitimate rape” rarely leads to pregnancy is the source of the episode’s title; Barba takes it apart on cross-examination.
- The closing scene turns back to Benson’s own history: earlier seasons establish that she was conceived when her mother was raped.
- Lauren Cohan plays Avery Jordan, and David Marciano plays Rick Purcell, who acts as his own lawyer for much of the trial.