In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives
who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
You know what sucks?
Cramming two people in a room with only one phone line.
I hate dorms.
Use your cell phone.
I keep going over
my limit, because you're always online.
You mind logging off for, like, two seconds?
This is kind of life or death.
You're in a freaking chat room.
Read this.
"Rage is eating me alive.
"Must release it.
"I have a knife and rope.
"And a five-year-old.
Screw her innocence, then slice her up."
This is sick.
He swears he's not joking.
"Hey, Dickweed,
I'm calling the Denver cops."
We were trying to calm him down.
He's replying. "Thanks for the heads up.
"I love killing pigs.
"I'll mow them down...
come through my door."
Hey!
His screen name is Psycho Killer?
Yeah, in a chat room for slasher film fans.
I tracked down the Internet service provider.
I'm on hold with them now.
Guy's obsessed with mutilation.
And killing cops.
He logged off half an hour ago.
Check out his last post.
"Got to get ready for my big date.
See you in hell."
Hold on. Who?
Jeremy Ostilow?
I'm afraid he's a little out of our jurisdiction.
We're in Denver, Colorado.
Where is he?
Where else?
New York City.
Maintain fire discipline.
He's got a kid in there.
Hit it.
Police!
Don't move.
Hands where we can see them.
Jeremy Ostilow?
- Yes. - Mommy!
It's okay, sweetheart. Are you okay?
What the hell are you doing?
Looking for a Psycho Killer.
A Psycho Killer?
Yeah, your slasher site screen name?
We linked it to your main account-- J-J-O-rules.
That's not my husband's.
It's JJ's.
And who's JJ?
Our son, Jeremy, Junior.
Found him under the bed.
It was just a joke.
Captioning sponsored by UNIVERSAL NETWORK TELEVISION
and NBC
He's 12 years old, for Pete's sake.
Didn't you pull pranks at that age?
Pranks, yeah, but I never threatened
to kill any cops, or say I wanted to...
"Rip off her clothes,
slashing as I defile her."
That's what you'd like to do?
Trust me, no more horror movies or Websites.
Don't blame them.
They didn't make me do this.
Okay, who did?
Please.
He was just trying to impress
other kids on the Internet.
Your son had hardcore slasher fans freaking out.
They asked him repeatedly,
"Are you joking?"
They thought you were serious,
and I got to tell you, JJ, I still do.
Then you're an idiot.
Give it up, Detective.
My parents would die
before they'd let anything bad happen to me.
Please don't do this to my son.
He's very sensitive.
Have you read the print-out
that we gave you from the Internet?
It's just nonsense he picked up from comic books and movies.
He has no idea what it means.
He went into graphic detail.
Look, who's going to fix the door?
You can fill out a form
to be reimbursed by the city.
How long will that take?
If you're lucky, I'd say six to eight weeks.
No. It has to be tonight.
What will I tell the neighbors?
Mrs. Ostilow,
how long has your son been obsessed with violence?
He's not.
Has he ever hurt his sister?
Never.
I need to talk to her.
Lisette's in her room.
I'll get her.
Underage suspects are entitled to have a parent present.
Underage victims are not afforded that same right.
Lisette's not a victim.
I need to talk to her alone.
Fine.
She'll tell you, she adores her big brother.
"Screw her innocence and then slice her up."
This is about your sister, Lisette?
No.
You telling me there's another five-year-old
out there who pisses you off that much?
Believe me, I know what a pain little sisters can be.
Just tell me what she did.
She melted my favorite CD in her EasyBake oven.
Well, that sucks. What did you do?
Nothing.
I never do anything.
When someone makes me mad,
I just imagine hurting them.
It makes me feel better.
So, it's like a release valve.
You think about it,
but don't actually do it.
That's what I said, moron.
You have these thoughts a lot?
All the time.
What are you so angry about?
Stuff.
What kind of stuff?
Life is really stressful, you know?
Well, I know mine is.
I deal with dirt bags every day.
Like yesterday, there was this case.
These four guys gang-rape
this sweet Haitian woman.
Detective.
You want to hear the details?
I really don't think
this is appropriate talk.
About how they beat her up, and they degraded her,
and when she begged for mercy, they defecated on her?
That's a child you're talking to.
Read what he wrote.
He wants to act like an adult predator,
I'll talk to him like one.
You really want to grow up
to be like one of those perverts, huh?
Why wait?
So, Lisette,
has JJ ever hurt you?
He pulled my hair once.
He did?
That's not nice.
Has he hurt you any other times?
I have a new game.
Want to play?
You know what?
Uh, maybe later,
but we need to finish talking about JJ first, okay?
Okay.
Okay. So...
Lisette, I need you to show me on this doll
all the places where JJ hurt you.
Right.
And has he hurt you anyplace else?
Not me.
Has he hurt someone else?
Who?
Beverly and Erica.
And do you know where he hurt them?
Okay.
Now, Lisette, I need to talk to Beverly and Erica.
Does your mommy know where they are?
No.
They're in the hospital.
What hospital?
Lisette, sweetie,
we need to finish talking before we can play.
But you said you wanted to see it.
This is the hospital.
Mr. Ostilow,
your son needs help.
He's a boy.
Boys break their sisters' dolls.
He mutilated 23 of them.
All in the genital area.
He's emotionally disturbed.
You're a psychiatrist, are you?
No. No, sir, I am not.
That's why I would like you to sign this.
What is it?
It's a parental consent form
to commit JJ for psychiatric observation.
I won't have him branded crazy.
You'd prefer a criminal record?
For what?
Posting terroristic threats is a felony.
I am so sick of people co-opting nine-eleven
for their own agendas.
Where do you want to send him, Guantanamo Bay?
I'd prefer Bellevue's Adolescent Ward.
Absolutely not.
Well, he's not going home to his sister.
So, it's either Bellevue or juvenile detention.
Your call, sir.
I hear they shipped
JJ off to the loony bin.
Cragen talked the father into a 72-hour hold.
Learn anything from the neighbors?
Yeah, that he should be locked in a rubber room permanently.
Why, what's he done?
Traumatizes every tot in the building.
Screams at them till he's red in the face.
About what? Any little thing.
Like looking at him the wrong way.
Yeah, he locked a few of them up in a utility closet,
convinced them they were going to be murdered.
They cried for an hour before he let them out.
Dad smoothed it out with the parents.
Sent them all expensive presents.
He's making it worse by excusing it.
This kid is a ticking time bomb.
Well, let's just call the school,
and see if he's exploded already.
Trouble paying attention in class,
poor grades, inappropriate behavior.
Such as?
He drew a pornographic image on a girl's desk
with a magic marker.
Tortured artist.
Another time he wrote
an obscenely graphic scenario,
passed it on to another student.
It upset her very much.
Still have it?
I contacted his parents, suggested he needed therapy.
They disagreed.
What's the school doing about it?
We're not inviting him back next year.
We'd ask him to leave now,
if it wasn't so close
to the end of the term.
Did he ever hurt another student?
Well, we suspected he did once, but
the victim denied it.
What was the incident?
A locker room fight.
Mitchell was a bloody mess.
JJ didn't have a mark on him.
It was perplexing.
Why is that?
If I had to name the school bully,
it would be Mitchell.
Dodge Ball?
They haven't outlawed this barbaric practice yet?
I loved this game.
Yeah, well, you were a sadist.
You know, I literally weighed 98 pounds.
I can still hear them.
"Break the Pencil."
I was a walking bruise.
I think we found Mitchell.
You're out. What the...?
Get over here.
JJ came out of the showers.
Someone might have pulled his towel away.
Why?
Something to do.
So, what happened?
He might have gotten snapped by a wet towel or two.
All in good fun, you know?
Yeah.
Getting pelted by Neanderthals,
in the privates sounds like a blast.
JJ went postal.
He started wailing on me.
Bloodied my nose, gave me a black eye,
busted lip...
So, how is it a guy like you doesn't fight back?
I was freaked out.
Why, because somebody half your size
finally stood up to you?
No. Because the whole time he's hitting me,
he's screaming rape.
Explosive rage, sexual acting out...
The slipping grades.
Behavioral and personality changes.
JJ's got all the classic signs of being molested.
Question is, by whom?
Well, we canvassed the school.
He's not in any extra-curricular activities,
so I doubt it was a teacher.
No older friends anyone knows about.
No friends at all.
Leaves the parents.
Dad was running interference
all through the interview.
Well, it's going to be hard
for JJ to tell about abuse
if his abuser is sitting right there.
I think the mother knows about it.
I got the feeling that she was covering something up.
And aside from her worrying
about what the neighbors thought,
this woman has major guilt issues.
We got to get JJ to open up.
We might have trouble
gaining his trust. I put him
through the wringer a little bit there.
Huang's got privileges at Bellevue.
We'll have him pay a visit.
How are you feeling today, JJ?
I'm locked up in an insane asylum.
How do you think I feel?
Uh, angry, frustrated, betrayed.
You're the doctor.
Well, it seems to me
like you're angry.
Are you angry at someone?
My parents.
They're so lame.
What did they do?
They let me wind up here.
Well, maybe they thought it was for your own good.
They don't care about me.
Sounds like they let you down before.
I can't say.
You know, JJ, it's okay.
You can tell me.
You don't understand!
I'm not allowed to talk about it!
Why not?
Because of the contract.
You made a deal not to tell?
I didn't.
My parents did.
JJ,
there isn't a contract
that can legally cover up a crime.
They are not protecting you.
Why are you protecting them?
Tell me where it happened.
At a sleepover.
There were a bunch of kids there,
but I was the only one allowed to sleep in the Treasure Room.
What's the Treasure Room?
His bedroom.
Whose bedroom?
Billy.
And
what did Billy do in the Treasure Room?
He had these pajamas laid out for me.
He helped me undress.
I can't...
JJ...
I'm real sorry
that your parents made you keep this secret so long...
but you got to get it out now.
He touched me.
He made me touch him.
And did you tell your parents what happened?
Yeah.
What did they do about it?
Got rich.
What do you mean?
Billy owns the company my Dad used to work for.
He paid them so much money not to tell,
they never have to work again.
Until three years ago,
Jeremy Ostilow, Senior, worked for Tripley Toys.
Company did $1.7 billion in sales last year.
It's owned by William J. Tripley.
Whom, I see by his press release,
prefers to be called Billy.
35, never married,
clean slate.
Inherited the company from Daddy.
He doesn't, uh, actually run the empire,
but he does receive a bulk of the profits.
We pulled the Ostilows' financials.
Jeremy received a $2 million when he left the company.
A lot of corporate executives
have golden parachute provisions.
This guy was middle management.
Still he received an additional million
a year after he left,
and another million earlier this year.
Boss molested their son, then bought their silence.
Tripley's always had deep pockets
when it comes to kids.
He's given tens of millions of dollars to charities,
usually child-related.
Programs for gifted kids,
sick kids,
underprivileged kids.
The man sure loves children.
Yeah, too much.
You got to figure that
there's other victims out there somewhere.
How are we supposed to weed them out?
We got JJ's statement.
I say we pick up Tripley now.
Have Novak get a search warrant
before he has time to clean house.
Lederhosen?
Guilty.
Functioning soda fountain,
stuffed animals, arcade games.
All this for a guy who doesn't have any kids of his own.
He owns a toy store.
Maybe he likes to bring his work home.
This has got to cost more than my family car.
Whoa. What the hell is that?
That's Mr. Tripley's lemur.
You've frightened it.
Lemur? Aren't those things endangered?
It is here. God knows what he's doing to it.
Don't you dare insult Mr. Tripley. He's a saint.
Really? Well, have you ever seen anything, uh,
inappropriate, you know, questionable?
Never.
There are ten servants on staff.
Ask any of them.
Oh, we intend to.
We understand that you have a,
uh, secret Treasure Room.
You know about that?
It's no secret.
It's every child's favorite place.
Pervert ahoy.
Pedophilic pirate motif.
Interesting choice.
What do you got to do
to get booty from this treasure chest?
I wonder how many victims walked Tripley's gangplank.
It's just like JJ said.
This is where he was molested three years ago.
This bed's a tight squeeze for two to sleep in.
Platonically.
Oh, this is just wrong.
Little jammies.
Each one a different theme.
What's this about?
Tripley's idea of lingerie.
Bag 'em up.
Give 'em to the crime lab.
Hopefully, they'll find some dirty laundry
in the dirty laundry.
It's inconceivable that no one
has turned this guy in by now.
Mr. Tripley...
Don't worry, Billy.
I'll have you out in 15 minutes.
Did you do it, Billy?
How many kids have you molested?
Detectives, is the victim male or female?
No comment. Let us through.
There is no truth whatsoever
to these outrageous allegations.
Can you clarify exactly what the allegations are?
Scurrilous lies, plain and simple.
Someone trying to cash in, no doubt.
Please, people, clear a path, please.
Billy has dedicated his life to helping kids.
I can't fathom why anyone would smear his good name,
but I promise you, anyone doing so will be sued for slander.
You're not trying to threaten a witness
through the press, are you?
No. Are you trying to trample
my First Amendment right to free speech?
Watch your head.
Excuse me, one more question.
Tell them I would never hurt a child.
Hey, we're standing right here, tell us yourself.
What's it going to take to make this go away?
Oh, you mean a dollar amount?
I'm afraid that Billy can-/////!t buy his way
out of this one, not this time.
I didn't do anything.
I love children.
So we hear,
from the boy you molested.
That's a big lie.
No, it was a $4 million secret.
That's how much you paid the family
to keep them quiet.
How many payments you got left?
The Ostilow settlement has nothing to do
with molestation. It was business.
Really? Do you mind
if we take a look at the contract?
Sorry. We have a non-disclosure agreement
involving a toy patent we purchased from Mr. Ostilow.
That's a bunch of crap.
It's hush money.
You molested their son and paid them off.
- Filthy lies. - Do you deny
having a nine-year-old boy spend the night at your house?
Kids spend the night all the time.
Billy has numerous functions there.
You've seen the place.
Of course the kids don't want to leave.
The parents are there, too.
And if they're not, I always get their permission
over the telephone.
How often do you sleep
in the same bed with these kids?
All the time. What's wrong with that?
You're a 35-year-old man.
I would kill myself before I did anything to hurt a child.
Pedophiles never think they're hurting them.
You're just loving them, right?
Yes. But not in the sick way you're thinking.
I don't think that way.
There's nothing more natural and more beautiful
than loving a child.
You're sick.
I think we're done here.
No you're not.
Billy still needs to be booked.
And you've got a long, nasty trial ahead of you.
Unless you really do care about kids.
In which case you'll save the victim
an awful lot of pain and plead out.
Motion for Dismissal?
The D.A. has no physical evidence,
no third-party witness...
We have the victim's sworn statement
of inappropriate sexual contact.
Delusional fantasies of an emotionally disturbed boy
obtained while he was sedated in the lockdown unit
of a psychiatric facility.
Where he was sent for treatment stemming from the sexual abuse
inflicted by Billy Tripley.
The alleged victim was sent to Bellevue
for posting violent threats on the Internet.
He made no mention of my client.
The boy had suppressed the facts of his abuse for three years.
He'd been forbidden to mention Billy Tripley.
The fact remains that every sick threat
was proven to be a fantasy.
Just like the accusations against my client.
That's for a jury to decide.
I agree. Anything else?
Motion challenging the admissibility
of the alleged victim's complaint.
Didn't we just go over this?
The statement was taken by Agent Huang.
JJ thought he was talking to a psychiatrist, not a cop.
Dr. Huang is a psychiatrist.
But he concealed his role
as an FBI agent from JJ and encouraged him
to disclose information under false pretenses.
This one I'll have a closer look at.
I'll give you my ruling next week.
Mr. Zeirko isn't the only one who knows how
to draft a motion.
It's come to my attention that the defendant,
who had no trouble making bail,
has continued to entertain children at his home.
Mr. Zeirko?
My client had many
charitable functions scheduled prior to this nightmare.
He opted not to punish thousands of needy kids
due to the bad behavior of one.
Let's err on the side of caution.
Until this case is resolved, he's restricted
to supervised visits with children under the age of 16.
Isn't he soft?
Very nice.
Tripley, got a call from one of your neighbors.
Found it very unsettling to see so many kids
coming through your door.
What's the special occasion, Billy?
They lower the age of consent?
That's not funny.
Well, what is funny
is a man in your position
finding reason to celebrate.
A few of my friends and associates threw a party to show their support.
The crowd looks a little young.
There are plenty of adults here.
Just make sure there's no sleep-overs.
TRIPLEY I'd invite you to stay, Detectives,
but we only want positive energy here.
You must be wrong about him.
Don't tell me, he donated
a boatload of cash to your organization?
Oh, no. I don't belong to any organization.
I just met him today.
So, how did you
get on the invite list?
He couldn't possibly
be guilty with all the good things that he's done.
I wrote him a letter thanking him and he invited us
to this party. Us?
My granddaughter April.
April, come here a minute.
Are you having fun, sweetie?
It's the best day of my whole life.
Oh, good, good.
What kind of parents would let their kids around this guy
knowing the allegations against him?
They can't tell he's a freak.
They don't care as long as they keep getting a handout.
The naive ones are just blinded by his generosity.
Something tells me he's been shoveling
more money on his problems.
Now what?
I just left another motion hearing with Zeirko.
Imagine my surprise when he handed me this...
The story I told you about Mr. Tripley was a lie.
He never touched me.
He was never anything but kind to me.
I apologize for any trouble my lies may have caused him.
Mr. and Mrs. Ostilow?!
Open up this door or we'll break it down again!
What do you want now?
Tripley get to you?
Did he threaten to enforce the nondisclosure agreement?
If JJ's abuse was ever discussed,
then you'd have to pay back
all that nice money.
Lower your voices. People can hear you.
Let us inside then. We just want a quiet word with JJ.
He's not here.
Where is he?
He's getting over this whole mess
in a place you'll never find him.
How gone is JJ?
He hasn't shown up for school,
and no one in his apartment building's seen him.
We pulled the Ostilow's credit cards.
There's no bus or plane tickets on 'em.
He's 12 years old. Someone has to be taking care of him.
We don't know who.
We have surveillance on the parents.
They're not paying him any visits.
They're saying they sent their son on vacation.
That's not a crime.
It's called hindering a prosecution.
That's what I think,
but until I talk to JJ, I can't prove it.
So, what,
you're just going to dismiss the case against Billy?
I don't see what other option I have.
You're talking about letting
a pedophile walk free.
Find one.
I'm not dropping the charges.
I admire your tenacity.
But you know without a complaining witness,
your case is over.
Billy Tripley's guilty of witness tampering.
Can you prove it?
Not yet.
But I know Tripley got to the parents,
threatened to enforce the nondisclosure agreement.
Are you absolutely sure that JJ recanted under duress?
I know that boy was molested.
JJ told Huang he can identify a birthmark on Billy's penis.
She doesn't get out much.
It's just so frustrating.
If a jury heard the boy's original statement,
believe me, they'd put Tripley away.
Well, unfortunately,
the boy's out of the picture
and we can't very well go around violating
a defendant's eighth amendment right to face his accuser.
We also can't allow rich offenders
to buy their way around justice with nondisclosure agreements.
There's your loophole.
The NDA.
They're always very carefully worded.
There's never an admission of guilt.
But there might be mention of the boy.
And legally, a minor can't enter into a binding contract.
No, but his parents acting as his guardians can.
But the question is, were his parents
acting in his best interest?
If not, that boy deserves
a lawyer of his own.
And I think I know just who it should be.
The People request Jeremy Ostilow Junior
be appointed a guardian ad litem.
What does that mean?
Is she trying to take away custody of my son?
No, Mr. Ostilow. Guardian ad litem
is a person appointed by the court
to protect the interests of a minor
for purposes of legal matters only.
Your Honor, there is no legal matter.
And if there were,
I've ably represented the family for several years.
The family-- meaning the parents, not the child.
Everything I've done
has always been in my son's best interest.
Everything you've done about what, Mr. Ostilow?
Are you referring to the nondisclosure agreement?
Any answer he gives to that question
would constitute disclosure, thereby breaching the agreement.
This kind of circular reasoning is indicative
of the entire problem, Your Honor.
The court must step in for the child.
I'll appoint a law guardian pro bono.
I'm available, Your Honor.
Mary!
What kind of back- room deal is this?
The court would be honored.
Thank you, Joe.
I'm now representing your son, Mr. Ostilow.
Now, I need a copy of that agreement made between
you and Mr. Tripley.
Your Honor, this is a blatant fishing expedition.
My client informed authorities
that that agreement pertains to him
and it also impinged on a criminal matter.
In a statement he later recanted.
Begging the question why.
Why did you take him to the lawyer
of the man he'd accused?
And why wouldn't you bring him in to the police or the A.D.A.?
Because he was scared to death of them.
They knocked down our door, arrested him,
interrogated him and then put him in a nuthouse.
He just told them what they wanted to hear.
It was the only way to get them to leave him alone.
Let me ask
one more question.
Why, if Jeremy recanted of his own volition,
are you hiding him?
I'm not. He just needed to get away.
Isn't it so he can't testify against Billy Tripley?
No.
Mind if I ask him that myself?
You're not going to talk to him. In that case,
I request a Material Witness Order to produce the child.
Your Honor, she's overreaching.
No, but she's right at the line.
I want the boy produced in my chambers.
I'm going to talk to him alone, and then I'll make a decision.
No.
Sir, if you refuse to comply,
I'll be forced to find you in contempt of court.
You don't want to go to jail, do you, Mr. Ostilow?
They actually put him in jail?
He's playing the martyr.
Claims he's protecting his son.
He's protecting his millions.
JJ testifies, he loses everything.
Gives him a big incentive to sit tight.
I'll see that he sits there
till the boy turns 21 if I have to.
They didn't call her "hanging judge" for nothing.
Who? Who called me that?
No one.
Why wait for Dad?
Let's find JJ ourselves.
We're doing the best we can.
We've pulled the phone and credit card records.
So far, nothing, so...
I tell you the good thing about working
for a rich law firm.
We've got resources you civil servants
can't even dream about.
Including a slew of P.I.s on retainer.
They're at your disposal.
Billy Tripley's PR machine is painting JJ
as a pathological liar.
We still can't find JJ.
Detective Benson?
Yeah.
They said I should talk to you.
Why don't you have a seat?
Thank you.
How can I help you?
I run a program for terminal patients.
Doing what, exactly?
Preparing them for death.
I'm a therapist.
This morning I counseled a nine-year-old girl
dying of leukemia.
That must be hard.
It gets worse.
I believe she was sexually molested by Billy Tripley.
It's all my fault.
I don't know how
I could have been so stupid!
You got me.
You left your granddaughter alone with this man?
We've seen him twice
since we met you.
Two days ago he threw a party for kids just like April.
She's got leukemia.
Diagnosed a year ago.
Nothing the doctors are doing seems to be helping.
So I'm searching for alternative cures.
Where are April's parents?
I don't know.
There never was a father in the picture.
My daughter got mixed up with drugs.
Abandoned April right after she was born.
I'm all she has.
We're going to need to talk to April.
She had chemo this morning. She's in maintenance.
Gets it every two or three weeks.
She threw up all afternoon,
and, well, she fell asleep an hour ago.
Thank you.
There you go.
I don't know if I can keep it down.
Oh, honey, try just a little.
We don't want you dehydrating again.
We'll just talk
as long you feel up to it, okay April?
So, can you tell me what happened
at Billy Tripley's house?
There were lots of kids there.
We played games. Really fun ones.
Hide-and-seek and stuff.
She got overexcited. Wore herself out.
Tell her what Billy said to you.
That I could take a nap.
He said kids took naps there all the time.
And did he take you someplace to lie down?
A place just for special kids.
Did Billy have a name for it?
The Treasure Room.
Okay. What happened there, April?
He said if I was good,
I got to pick a present out of the treasure chest.
Did you get to pick a toy?
He said she could have it
after the nap.
He didn't want her to wrinkle her pretty outfit.
He had pajamas she could wear.
He took her clothes off!
I'm sorry, Mrs. Hodges.
I understand how difficult this is,
but I really need to hear it from April, okay?
Thank you.
Honey, your nose is bleeding.
I'm sorry.
This happens all the time.
Not that I wish it on anybody else,
but why did it have to be this girl?
Children with any disability
are twice as likely to be sexually abused.
Cowards always target the weakest prey.
They're more likely to comply, less likely to report.
And Billy's been around hundreds of terminally ill kids.
Makes you wonder how many died
before reporting abuse.
I knew he'd have other victims. I just wasn't expecting a girl.
Sexually indiscriminate pedophiles aren't uncommon.
His victims are all prepubescent.
There's less anatomical differences at that age.
It's more about the hairlessness, the innocence.
Billy's pretty childlike himself.
Look at his lifestyle.
He lives in a magical toyland playing with kids.
It's the Peter Pan Syndrome to the extreme.
Look, that really hurts.
Oh, come on!
Are you going to pull out every hair on my head?
Have to make sure we get one with the root attached.
Ten hairs is standard procedure.
Look, this is police brutality.
Trust me, when you're being
brutalized by me, you'll know it.
You just threatened me.
Did you hear him threaten me?
Nope.
Open wide.
And if you bite me, I'll hurt you.
What's that for?
Oral swab. No pain involved.
You know, if you can't take pain,
you shouldn't go around molesting nine-year-olds.
I never touched her. Not that way.
Nap time? The Treasure Room?
I can't bring myself to go back in that room
since you people desecrated it.
Please lower your pants and underwear.
Why?
Pubic hair sample.
I need ten of those as well.
I don't have any.
Any what?
Hair...
down there.
Stand up and strip.
Guess we can wait till they grow back.
It's permanent.
I had laser hair removal.
It just gets freakier and freakier.
Notice where his birthmark is?
Right where JJ said it would be.
Now if only we could find JJ.
I got a call from the investigator
Conway Clark gave us.
He might have picked up JJ's trail.
Where does he think he is?
Maine. Clark's sending him up there now.
April mention any birthmarks?
Nope. She had her eyes closed tight.
Have you seen Tripley's bombshell?
It's more like a firecracker.
His legal team put a P.I. on Nora.
Followed her and April into a department store
where he alerted security.
For what?
"Toy mogul's alleged
victim caught with shoplifting granny."
So much for our perfect witness.
It's not like it sounds.
Let me show you how it looks.
Tripley's private investigator
took a pretty clear picture of it.
That's $200 worth
of merchandise you're stuffing in your bag there.
Yes, it was all for April.
She needed clothes.
Well, that's no reason to steal them.
I had to.
Her medical bills have wiped me out.
I can't work because she's sick all the time.
I didn't know what else to do.
Tripley's lawyers are having a field day with this.
They can't punish April for my mistake.
They already have.
It's in the papers.
My granddaughter has had a miserable life.
Both her parents abandoned her, she's dying of cancer,
and now she's been molested.
Please... let her know justice at least once in her life.
Grandma muddied the case big time.
Luckily she's not the victim, April is.
You couldn't ask for a more sympathetic witness.
But I could ask for a second one.
If a jury heard it from April and JJ, it'd be a lock.
I take it Mr. Ostilow is still sitting in his cell?
Yeah, maintaining his vow of silence.
Clark's private investigator made it to Maine.
Thinks he's got a bead on JJ.
What about April's rape kit?
Warner's still waiting for the final results,
but she found a hair in the girl's underwear.
Made a preliminary match to Billy.
I heard he had no hairs to leave.
It's from his head.
Let me know when the full kit's back.
I need all the evidence I can get.
I found something that doesn't make sense.
So, is that good or bad?
As part of the kit, I drew blood to check for STDs.
Please don't tell me he gave her something.
This kid cannot take another hit.
No. The CBC and differential came back absolutely normal.
So, that's a good thing.
Yes, and that's the point.
Leukemia affects the white blood cells.
I expected to find abnormal metamyelocytes.
So I checked the smear.
Still nothing.
Meaning no sign of cancer?
None.
Well, could she be in remission?
It's a possibility.
But when leukemia is diagnosed in a child,
the pediatric oncologist takes a bone marrow biopsy
to confirm it.
It's done by drilling small holes in the pelvic bone.
They don't heal.
This is a pelvis after a biopsy.
See the holes?
As part of April's rape trauma exam, I took a pelvic x-ray.
No holes. They didn't do
a bone marrow biopsy.
She never had cancer.
It's a good thing you brought her in when you did.
Another few weeks, she'd have been dead.
What's wrong with her?
Mercury poisoning.
What?
There's a toxic level in her system.
Well, how was she exposed to mercury?
Ingested it.
Probably put in her food.
Nora.
She was killing her own granddaughter.
And judging by these levels,
I'd say for almost a year now.
I don't understand.
She was going to doctors for chemotherapy.
No, she wasn't.
Her grandmother convinced her
they couldn't afford a doctor.
Told her she was giving her the medicine she needed,
but it had to be their secret.
The medicine was actually the mercury
which was making her sick?
So let me guess.
Leukemia and mercury poisoning have the same side effects.
Both inhibit cell growth.
Same nausea, hair loss, weight loss...
April honestly believed she was dying.
Is she going to be okay now?
Mercury weakens the bones,
so some of the damage is permanent.
But at least she'll live.
You're going to start feeling better now.
They told me Gran's the one who made me sick.
I'm sorry, April.
Looks like your gran did a lot of bad things.
She lied about the leukemia.
Has she lied about other things that you know about?
The stuff I told you about Billy.
Okay, was any of it true?
Gran told me to make friends with him.
I took a nap there once, but just on the couch.
Well, you sure knew a lot of details.
How did you know what to say?
Gran read all the stories about him
in the papers.
She cut them out.
Made a scrapbook.
She quizzed me from it every day.
Do you know where she keeps it?
In the kitchen.
Between her cookbooks.
April, we know that
you didn't want to do it.
She said it was my only chance.
If we didn't get the money, I'd die.
I just didn't want to die.
Sweetheart, you're not going to.
Gran said she loved me.
But how could she make me sick if she loved me?
I don't know what's wrong with me.
I love that little girl.
Funny way of showing it.
I never wanted to hurt her.
There must be something wrong with me.
There is.
It's called Munchausen by Proxy syndrome.
What is that?
A recognized psychological disorder
that causes a parent to make their child sick
because of a pathological need for attention.
So, let's talk about the Tripley scam.
Well, that was April's lie.
And I believed it.
We have the scrapbook.
Well, it's not as though he's an innocent victim, is it?
He's a pedophile.
He deserved it.
I'd just as soon clear this one off the books.
So fill in the blanks
and I won't charge you with the fraud counts
related to it.
It sounds like you know everything already.
Crime lab found a hair in April's underwear.
During the party I snuck into his room,
and I took it from his hairbrush.
When they asked me for the clothes she'd been wearing,
I'd already planted it.
Do you have any idea how much damage you've caused?
But you agree with me; he deserved it.
He deserves to go to jail.
Thanks to you he can claim
he's the victim of a false allegation
every time a legitimate one comes up in the future.
I'm sorry.
I don't believe you.
But you'll have a good long time to pay for it in prison.
We just made a deal.
I'm not charging her with fraud on Tripley,
I'm charging her with fraud on the cancer scam.
Munchausen.
Bull. She's been working this for a year.
Totaling all the bake sales, canister donations
and Internet solicitations,
she's bilked people out of 60 grand.
What are you offering?
Not a thing.
I'm taking you to trial.
Please, please, think of April.
There's no one else to look after her.
You've got to be kidding me.
What you were doing nearly killed her.
I'm charging you with fraud and attempted murder.
But you heard what she said, I'm sick.
No jury's that stupid.
They'll see it wasn't Munchausen.
Just pure, unadulterated greed.
Well, we found JJ.
Where?
He was with an uncle up in Maine.
My P.I. got close, but just missed him.
What happened?
They crossed the border into Canada.
The material witness order doesn't extend that far.
I don't have the authority to bring him back.
Unbelievable.
Two cases against Billy,
and both of them blown up.
He's a Teflon pedophile.
What happens with JJ's father?
Well, now we know where JJ is,
I'll have to notify the court.
Oh, that's nice.
He gets out of jail and keeps the money, huh?
Oh, no.
Sending his son out of our jurisdiction
does not vacate the order.
Until he produces that kid, I'm keeping his ass in jail.
This you got to see to believe.
Billy is having a victory party.
Billy, do you harbor any resentment?
He invited the media?
I do feel sorry for that little girl, though.
She was as much a victim as I was.
The mood in here is pretty festive.
I've been vindicated.
But the real winners are the children.
One of these kids is going to be his next victim.
It's sick.
We'll get him.
He'll give us a lot more chances.
Who's your favorite toy maker?
You!
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