Rape Interrupted (Season 18, Episode 5)
Premise: Benson’s first partner pressures her to drop the case against his son, who was found on top of an unconscious woman in a park.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 18, Episode 5
- Starring
- Lt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Det. Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino), ADA Rafael Barba (Raúl Esparza), Judge Elana Barth (Jenna Stern)
- Guest stars
- Anthony Edwards as Patrick Griffin, Corey Cott as Ellis Griffin, Anna Osceola as Janie Spears, Joseph Lyle Taylor as Mickey D’Angelo, Gabriel Ellis as Diego Perez
- Ripped from the headlines
- Inspired by the Brock Turner case: in 2016 the former Stanford student was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster and sentenced to six months in jail, of which he served three.
- Director
- Michael Pressman
- Writers
- Story: Brianna Yellen & Robert Brooks Cohen & Céline Robinson; Written by: Julie Martin & Brianna Yellen
Summary
“Rape Interrupted” begins on Halloween weekend, as Ellis Griffin celebrates a promotion to trader at Goldman Sachs with his parents before heading to a party. Later that night a British tourist, Brian Dancy, calls 911 after finding Ellis on top of a motionless young woman beside garbage bags in a park. The woman, Janie Spears, is taken to the hospital unconscious with alcohol poisoning. Ellis tells Benson and Carisi that the sex was consensual and that she may have fallen asleep. The story is already viral, with Janie mocked online as “Garbage Rape Girl.” Ellis’s father, Nassau County police Sgt. Patrick Griffin, Benson’s first partner after the Academy, arrives and ends the interview.
Janie remembers kissing Ellis but not having sex; she had broken up with her boyfriend a week earlier, and her cousin Leah Simes, who once went out with Ellis, calls him sexually aggressive. Partygoers disagree about how drunk Janie was, and the rape kit matches Ellis. Patrick asks Benson to make the case go away, reminding her that on her first arrest he told Internal Affairs he had been in the room with her, saving her from a theft accusation; she tells Barba he lied for her. Janie, harassed online, wants only an apology, and Barba offers third-degree rape with probation and sex-offender registration. At the plea hearing Ellis cannot bring himself to apologize and takes back his plea.
Protesters jeer Ellis outside the trial. Defense attorney Mickey D’Angelo questions how much Dancy could see from 20 feet away in the dark and plays a recording of a rambling call Janie made to Leah that night. The defense then adds a surprise witness, Diego Perez, who says Janie was awake and urging Ellis on. Benson warns Patrick that she knows Perez was an informant at his old precinct, and under Barba’s questioning Perez denies ever meeting him. Ellis then stands up in court, says he knew Janie was passed out and admits he raped her.
Spoiler, the ending: Ellis pleads guilty to second-degree rape, and after Janie reads a statement, the judge sentences him to 24 months in prison while protesters chant that two years is not enough. Benson tells Patrick that Barba will not charge him with witness tampering. He says she could have helped and chose not to; she answers that she wishes he had told the truth all those years ago.
Why it stands out
- Anthony Edwards plays Patrick Griffin, reuniting with Mariska Hargitay, who guest-starred on ER as a love interest of his character there, Dr. Mark Greene.
- Corey Cott, who plays Ellis, joins the main cast in Season 27 in a different role, Det. Jake Griffin.