Criminal Stories (Season 15, Episode 18)
Premise: A star newspaper columnist embedded with SVU declares a Muslim woman’s rape report a hoax after her account of an attack in Central Park falls apart.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 15, Episode 18
- Starring
- Sgt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Nick Amaro (Danny Pino), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), ADA Rafael Barba (Raúl Esparza), ME Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie)
- Guest stars
- Alec Baldwin as Jimmy MacArthur, Summer Bishil as Heba Salim, Nick Mennell as Elias Kemp Jr., Leslie Odom Jr. as Reverend Curtis Scott, Josh Pais as Deputy Commissioner Hank Abraham
- Director
- Mariska Hargitay
- Writers
- Story: Warren Leight & Julie Martin; Teleplay: Peter Blauner
Summary
“Criminal Stories” opens with Deputy Commissioner Hank Abraham telling Benson that Jimmy MacArthur, a columnist for The Ledger with two Pulitzers, has the commissioner’s blessing to profile her as SVU’s acting commander after her ordeal with William Lewis. With full access from headquarters, Jimmy rides along when a case comes in.
Heba Salim, 24, a Muslim volunteer at a charity benefit at the Plaza, is found by Central Park saying two white men pulled her over the wall, tore off her hijab, called her anti-Muslim names and raped her. Reverend Curtis Scott speaks for the family, which is angry that Jimmy has already called them with case details. A traffic camera, though, shows Heba walking toward the park at 1:54 a.m. with her clothes already torn, and Warner finds no mud on her thighs, carpet burns on her knees and palms, and red and gold animal-hair fibers under her nails. Jimmy, who has seen her medical report, calls the attack a fabrication in print.
The benefit was sponsored by the real estate firm where Heba’s brother Farid works. His boss, Elias Kemp Jr., says he left early for a call to Hong Kong, but his office rug sheds fibers onto the detectives’ socks that match Heba’s. Building video shows Kemp and his vice president, Mike Sullivan, arriving at 12:05 a.m., Heba ten minutes later, and Heba leaving 90 minutes after that. Reverend Curtis denounces SVU at a rally, Jimmy likens Heba to Tawana Brawley, and Kemp’s lawyer says the sex was consensual. Heba admits she invented the park story to spare her family, since her brother works for Kemp. Benson accuses Jimmy of protecting Kemp, whose father twice rescued The Ledger financially; he refuses to back down.
At trial, defense attorney John Buchanan gets Rollins to concede that rug burns can come from rough consensual sex. Heba testifies that Kemp lured her to a supposed after-party, where he and Sullivan held her down, choked her and raped her in turns; Buchanan hammers her earlier lies. On Katie Couric’s show, Jimmy calls the case a hoax, but after Benson says he has lost his conscience, he writes a column admitting he was played.
Spoiler, the ending: Jurors read the column against the judge’s orders, and the judge declares a mistrial. Kemp then pleads guilty to sexual misconduct, a misdemeanor, and blames Sullivan, who Barba says faces 5 to 15 years; both will register as sex offenders. Heba reveals she has taken a settlement from Kemp’s side that will let her brother return to business school. In his last column for The Ledger, Jimmy lays out how Kemp raped Heba and bought his way out, then shares a drink with Benson.
Why it stands out
- Mariska Hargitay makes her directing debut with this episode.
- Alec Baldwin returns to television as Jimmy MacArthur in a special guest appearance, and Katie Couric makes a cameo as herself.
- Summer Bishil plays Heba Salim, and Leslie Odom Jr. plays Reverend Curtis Scott.