.
- 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.
[pop music]
- It's going to be amazing.
- My daddy says you're a hard worker.
- [laughs] - He does?
Well, that's good to know. [laughs]
- It's true. - Do you have a gun too?
- I do, but I don't bring it to parties.
Wow, your family's so lovely.
And you didn't tell me that your wife is gorgeous.
And--and hilarious.
- Lamai balances me out. All right.
Heads-up, I know that look in her eye.
- Olivia, did Chris tell you-- - You know I didn't.
- Our dear friend, Edgar.
He's a partner at my old firm. Edgar, Olivia.
- Hello. - Olivia.
You're as stunning as Lamai said you were.
- [laughs]
- Hey. - Oh.
- You okay?
- Yeah, well, I spent the weekend with my mother.
- Beth okay? So that's a no.
Other than that? - What, end of the shift,
I'm sent to Special Frauds
where a sticky-fingered church bookkeeper may want to flip.
Does life get better than that? - So that's another no?
Right over here.
Ms. Blake, this is Detective Rollins from Special Victims.
I've told her a spot audit revealed that you've embezzled
more than $400,000 from your church.
- And you're looking to trade information
about a sexual predator? Who?
- It's okay.
- He's an official at my church.
- Go on.
- Cards on the table, Sherry.
- He's had sexual relations
with teenage girls in the congregation
and used church funds to pay them off.
[tense music]
- Gonna need his name. - We're gonna need assurances.
- As I've told you, the DA will consider any--
- I'm worried about the NYPD.
- Excuse me? - This church official?
He's a close personal friend of your boss.
♪
- So, normally I stumble my way through grace.
- No, no. [laughter]
- Uh, but Reverend Chase, would you do us the honors?
- Shall we?
Dear Lord, thank you for the gift
of gathering in the warmth of the Garland home
on a cold winter's night,
to visit with old friends and to meet new ones,
to savor Lamai's masterful cooking...
To-- [doorbell rings]
To be interrupted by a doorbell.
[laughter] - Excuse me.
- Cheers, everyone.
all: Cheers. - Here's to a lovely evening.
♪
- Sorry to bother you, Chief. - We tried calling.
- It's a no-cell phones dinner. Your captain's here.
- We know. We need a minute.
- Come in.
- Carisi, Rollins, what's going on?
- We got a credible tip about a serial sexual predator.
- Couldn't wait until morning?
- The informant claims it's someone you know.
She wants assurances that
you'll let the investigation proceed.
- Of course I will. Who is it?
- Reverend Delman Chase.
- I find that very hard to believe.
- Wasn't that just him saying grace?
♪
How well do you know each other?
- H-he and his wife Laura are like family.
Been my spiritual advisor for over a decade.
He was the minister at my wedding.
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
- So Garland's minister's
doing teenage girls at his church?
- Fin, we don't know that.
- Then why would this accountant make it up?
- Because she's facing serious fraud charges.
Anyway, Garland doesn't believe it.
- So he's gonna shut us down? - No, that's not his way.
Or his call.
- Hey, check this out. - Hey.
[Christian praise song playing]
♪
- Praise dancing at Harlem Heights Baptist?
- Turns out Reverend Chase
is a big supporter of the church's all-girl dance troupe.
They perform all over the country,
win all kinds of awards.
- Whoo! [cheers and applause]
Hallelujah! Oh, praise the Lord.
[laughs]
Oh, yeah, wonderful job.
Oh, that was wonderful.
- Good job, good job. - Whoo!
Our praise dancers always lift my spirit.
- Amen. - Amen.
- We're so blessed. - We are so blessed.
- That's Chase's wife and co-pastor, Laura.
They've been at Harlem Heights for 20 years.
Uh, their sermons are nationally broadcast.
- So he's a for-profit pastor? - Uh, yeah.
They got the two mansions, a church-leased private plane.
But he also runs a charity that works with local non-profits.
- And he started a charter school
for underprivileged girls.
And the church also funds a dorm for at-risk youth.
- Okay, that could be a hunting ground.
What do we have on his payouts?
- Uh, Chase told his bookkeeper that these checks
were for families in need, the girls' college funds.
- Code for hush money.
- Over 50 checks from the last seven years,
all varying amounts, almost all 15K or under.
- Uh, sorry to interrupt. Captain.
- Yes, okay, great. Here you go.
Come in.
- Thank you for coming last night.
- It was a lovely evening.
- Huh, until it wasn't.
Look, after everyone left, it, uh...
it crossed my mind to call Del back.
- You wanted to give him a heads-up?
- I did, because I don't believe he's capable of this.
But Lamai had the good legal sense to talk me out of that.
To be clear, you're in control of the investigation.
I'll recuse.
You can report to the Chief of D's.
- I appreciate that.
But because he trusts you...
and the community trusts you...
I may need your help with this.
- Okay.
In that case, Laura Chase pulled me aside last night.
She's worried about the embezzlement.
Might be an opening.
- We appreciate your cooperation, Reverend Chase.
- Call me Laura. But aren't you Special Victims?
- We are, but Chris Garland asked us to look into this
on behalf of Special Frauds. - Christian's a good man.
When I heard Sherry Blake stole collection-plate money
to go on shopping sprees, I was sickened.
- Not just collections. We flagged some checks that
may or may not be legitimate. W-would you mind taking a look?
- Of course. Let's go to my office.
These two--we never used a catering service, I'm sure.
- Okay, so put those in the fraudulent pile.
And now we have three different car payments.
- Yeah, we each have our own car and there's a church van.
- We also found a, uh, series of checks made out to--
to different girls. Do you recognize this name?
- Yeah, Breyona Taylor-- she's a student.
$10,000.
The church sometimes helps young girls with family need.
- Yeah.
This one is from four years ago.
- Destiny Hall? We had such high hopes for her.
Poor girl just lost her way.
[tense music]
$75,000?
- Yeah, three checks in the same month.
Renee Lee, 75,000.
Sade Ferguson, 75,000.
And $100,000 PraiseRaise fund
for, uh, Sade Lee.
- [sighs] Renee is a student,
and Sade is her mom. And they were struggling.
But there's no way the church would've paid out $1/4 million.
[tense music]
[exhales slowly] Sister Sherry must have
written out the checks and laundered them.
My husband will be beside himself.
♪
- Yes, it's my check.
It's made out to me, Breyona Taylor.
- Can you tell us what it was for?
- I told the Rev that I wanted to go to medical school
to become a pediatrician.
He said it would cost a lot, but he could help.
- And he just gave you the check?
- We put it in an account, just like that.
- Did he expect anything in return?
♪
- Just to keep working towards my dream
and to give all glory to God.
- The Reverend called it a down payment on my future.
- What that mean?
- It meant keep my mouth shut. - About what?
- About him being nasty.
He gave me a loan,
asked if I have bad thoughts,
asked me to tell him about my temptations.
- Anything else happen? - I shut him down.
Took his check. That money is long gone.
- You ever tell anyone? - [scoffs]
Everyone at that church thinks he's God.
♪
- Thanks for speaking with us, Michelle.
- You're here about that accountant?
- Everyone knows about it?
- Yeah. The girls are all upset.
I'm the dorm mom, so I hear it all.
- Is Renee Lee here today?
- Front and center, like always.
- Thanks.
- Reverend Chase is generous to all us girls.
He's a true Christian. - I'm sure he is, but...
$250,000?
- My mom broke her back. She hasn't worked in a year.
- And was that the only reason
the Reverend gave your family the money?
- Like, breaking your back isn't enough?
- It's just a lot more than the other donations
made by the church,
and if the Reverend asked for anything in return--
- Like what? You saying the Rev's a creeper?
He's not.
Anyway, I gotta rehearse now.
- I'm new and all, but-- - You're not that new.
Something happened here, and it wasn't spiritual.
- Who's gonna tell Chief Garland?
- How long's it been since we've done this?
- Too long.
And I thought here would be a better place to talk
than either of our offices.
- If this is about the embezzlement, Del,
I assure you the investigation will proceed
with due diligence. - Will it?
There are bitter and racist eyes on us, Christian.
Eyes that don't wanna see me raise up this community
through my church, my school.
Eyes that don't wanna see a black man rise in the NYPD.
- But I have risen.
As have you.
- These investigators are making salacious implications,
concocting conspiracies.
I worry folks will think
there must be fire underneath that smoke.
Whatever stories your people are hearing,
I need to know.
Promise me you won't be a corbie-messenger.
- [chuckles] Understood.
- That's all I need to know.
I'm always here for you, Christian.
At this point, I'll resign.
If I taught you anything,
it's how to protect your king.
[suspenseful music]
- All right, man.
♪
- Well?
- Protested far too much. - [sighs]
- He asked for my word that I have his back.
♪
- I'm so sorry. - So am I.
I have a sick feeling the Lord had nothing to do
with why he wrote those checks.
♪
.
- I'm happy to help if I can, Captain.
My wife said this was about
the checks to Renee Lee's mother.
- Yeah, your wife thought
that they were fraudulent.
- No, the other ones she caught were,
but on these, Laura was mistaken.
- So the quarter million is legit?
- I don't recall the exact amount,
but Renee's needs were great.
- How do you mean?
- Renee's mother, who had worked on her feet
her entire life, suffered a serious back injury.
She couldn't pay her mortgage, her heat.
Renee would've had to drop out of school, go home, work.
And her home was a troubled environment.
- So you saved her?
- The church saved her with the Lord's help.
- Okay.
Did the church's hierarchy approve these checks?
- Payments are at my discretion,
with the Lord's guidance.
- So the Lord told you to make three separate payments,
including a check made out directly to Renee?
- Separating the payments
was definitely Sister Sherry's idea.
And--and I don't recall this last one at all.
I'd say ask her,
but we already know we can't believe a word she says.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a sermon to prepare.
- About yielding to temptation?
- No, about forgiveness.
[dramatic music]
♪
- So where are we? - Giving money away is legal.
Chase claims not to recall one payment to Renee.
Renee insists
that the Reverend gave her and her mother
all three checks, no strings attached.
- So what does the mother say? - She lives up in Syracuse.
I sent Fin and Kat up there. - Good.
Tell them they can threaten her with fraud
if she doesn't tell the truth. I'm not in a forgiving mood.
- Fraud at the church?
Well, that's terrible.
Well, my money's legitimate. I hurt myself.
- Yeah, we heard that you had some kind of a fall.
- I had a table full of Karens riding me,
and cleared too fast and I slipped.
You know, I would have lost my home
if Reverend Chase hadn't sent that check.
- And the PraiseRaise fund?
- Well, that was for my medical.
Renee kept saying, "Just keep praying
and trusting in God, and--"
- But all the money came from the Reverend's church.
- The Reverend always looked out for her.
She was a wild child,
and I was about to put her out the house.
But then my sister saw the Reverend on TV,
so Renee sends in her praise dance audition tape,
and right away he sends a ticket for her
to come to New York. It was a miracle.
- Praise Jesus. - Amen.
- Have you ever met the Reverend?
- No. Only person I've ever spoken
with is the dorm mom girl, Michelle.
She told me how much everyone loves Renee.
- $250,000? Are you sure?
- It seems like a lot to you.
- After all he's done for her, and this is how she repays him?
- What do you mean, Michelle?
- Reverend Chase would never give her all that money.
Renee must have stolen it.
Maybe she's in on it with that bookkeeper.
He's such a good man.
He doesn't see people for who they are.
- That's what we thought.
Thank you.
- There's no way Renee stole that money.
- No, but maybe we should give her
a chance to refute the charge.
- You want to use a false charge as leverage
to pressure a victim to disclose?
- He's a revered minister.
If we want to make this case,
we may not have a choice.
- I hate to say this, Renee,
but you could be in serious trouble here.
- Why am I in trouble?
- Well, the Reverend doesn't remember the check
made out to you. - That's impossible.
He handed it to me. - He did?
What was it for? - Like I said, expenses.
My future. - Huh.
Well, you and your mom got over ten times more
than anybody else.
Now, it's been suggested that, uh, that you stole it.
- I didn't steal anything.
- I hope not.
Charges for grand larceny are serious.
- I could go to jail?
[soft dramatic music]
♪
I just did what he wanted.
- And what-- what was that, honey?
♪
- If I tell the truth, can my mom keep the money?
I wasn't lying about her.
- We're gonna do everything we can to help you.
- But you need to tell us the whole story.
- When I started at the school, my grades were bad,
really bad.
He called me into his office, but he didn't yell at me.
He said he would tutor me privately.
It would be our secret.
- Did you and he have other secrets?
♪
- Sometimes he'd tutor me.
Sometimes he'd massage my body.
After dance, that felt really good, but then he--
♪
I sh--I shouldn't talk about this anymore.
- Hey, Renee, listen to me.
There's nothing that you can tell us
that we haven't heard before.
♪
- Can I just show you?
♪
I told Rev I had deleted it.
That's why he gave me the money.
- How old were you here?
- Fifteen.
- Who is the man in this video?
- Reverend Chase.
♪
[sniffles]
.
- Garland's a cop, a deacon at the church.
And he's telling us he didn't know his own pastor
was a child rapist? - Fin.
- I'm not saying he knew and kept it quiet.
I'm saying he should've known something.
Are we arresting this guy or not?
[doorbell rings]
- Detectives.
- Reverend Chase, we'd like you to come with us
down to the station.
- Is this about the embezzlement?
- No, it's about Renee Lee. - I don't understand.
- She's made an allegation of rape.
- What did you say to that poor girl?
- She also has a tape.
- Am I under arrest?
- Not if you come with us down to the station.
We'd rather not cuff you.
- Delman, what's wrong? - Call Adams.
And Christian Garland.
- You should know that Garland sent us.
[tense music]
- It's all right, baby.
♪
[knocking on door]
[door opens]
You knew he was being brought in?
- I did.
- How could you let this happen?
After 15 years?
We've eaten at each other's table,
prayed together. He's Abby's godfather.
- Laura, please sit down. - Why is this girl lying, huh?
Why does she want to hurt us?
♪
- There's a video.
- I don't believe it. I wanna see it.
- I don't think-- - This is my husband's life
we're talking about, Christian. I wanna see it.
♪
[sighs sharply]
[breathes nervously] Thank God it's not him.
So why are you doing this, Christian?
- Laura-- - It's a fake.
That's not Del. You need to tell them.
Tell them.
- What reason would this girl have to lie?
And the payments to her and her family--
$250,000?
♪
I can't make this go away!
- If you can't...
then our relationship is over.
No one in our church will ever speak to you
or your wife
or your little daughter again.
♪
[door slams]
- Did he say anything in the car?
- He was very polite. He prayed.
- Olivia.
- Edgar.
- I'm here to see my client, Reverend Chase.
- You're a criminal attorney? - Yeah, I used to be.
But it doesn't matter. Since Reverend Chase is not
a criminal, he called me.
I'm of counsel to the church.
- I'm sorry to tell you this,
but there--there may be
a side to your client that you're not aware of.
- Where's Delman?
Renee Lee secretly recorded this?
- Yes, and that's clearly her in the tape.
She was 15 years old.
- That's the entirety of the video?
- What, you wanna see more?
- Well, I see nothing that implicates my client.
All that's visible is a black male torso.
That could be anyone.
- Renee said that Reverend Chase
sexually abused her for three years,
until six months ago.
- Uh, my heart goes out to the poor girl,
but she's lying. I need to talk to her.
Pray with her. - Shut her up?
Wasn't that what the $1/4 million was for?
- That money, given out of compassion,
apparently only showed her how deep my client's
and the church's pockets are.
This is obviously an extortion attempt.
- Renee didn't come to us.
And at first, she said that it was charity.
- I-I think she's troubled, confused.
- Reverend--
- These young girls and their teenage temptations.
- You sure know a lot about their temptations, don't you?
- She had an unhealthy fixation on me.
I prayed with her,
told her it would pass.
She must have found someone else to act it out with.
- Why would she say that's you on the video?
- Captain, Sergeant, we've cooperated as much as we can.
You have a girl here with a history
of drug and promiscuity issues
against the word of a renowned spiritual leader.
I can't imagine this goes any further.
- Oh, it can.
And it will.
- Well, if your minds are that closed,
I'd like a few moments alone with my attorney.
"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,
"for when he has stood the test he will receive
the crown of life."
- Yeah, now he's praying? Little late.
- Okay, while he prays, can we get a subpoena
to photograph his torso and his back?
- That's tough unless we arrest.
- He's not under arrest yet?
- Garland's looking out for him?
- More like the Eighth Floor.
And considering the Reverend's profile--
- And the voting bloc he controls--
- To be fair, Renee will be a problematic witness.
It would be helpful if we had some corroboration.
- Kat, comb through the financials again
and follow up with any of the girls
that we haven't contacted yet.
- Copy that. - Fin, Rollins.
see if any of the girls in the dorm might break rank.
And then-- I know it's a long shot,
but get CSU to go through Renee's dorm.
- When I went to Renee's room to call her for lunch,
she was gone. She took everything.
She must've run away.
- What did you say to her, Michelle?
- Just that she would have to swear
on the Bible to tell the truth.
That lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.
- You know where she went?
- Not a person in this church would take her in.
I heard her on the phone, crying to her mother.
- [crying]
- Breyona, honey, you can't be in here.
- I know she brought this on herself,
but they didn't have to do this.
- Breyona's just a kid. She don't know better.
But no one else feels bad.
Renee was lying about the Reverend.
She knew that if she continued on that path,
she'd be damning her soul to hell for all eternity.
[dramatic music]
♪
.
- The Reverend was having sex with Renee?
[scoffs] I don't believe it.
R-Renee never said a word.
And--and I would know. I'm her mother.
- Sometimes mothers are the last to know.
- [scoffs]
He's a man of God. He saved us from being a--
- You mean with the money?
He didn't make those payments until he found out
that Renee had a video of them having sex.
- Now you--you listen here.
I've--I've paid my mortgage.
So if you're looking for that money back, it's gone.
- That's not why we're here.
- When's the last time you heard from Renee?
- She called me.
Said the girls at the school were being mean,
and she couldn't take it anymore.
I told her life was overcoming obstacles,
and she couldn't come home crying to Mommy
just 'cause she had a bad day.
- So she wanted to come home? - Yes.
- Any other place she could've gone?
- Just one.
[knocking on door]
- How'd you find me?
- Your mom's worried about you.
- You mean she's worried about the money.
- That too.
Is your boyfriend home? - He's at work.
Anyway, the cops can't care about that anymore.
I'm 17.
- We just wanna talk to you.
- You can't convince me to come back.
Everyone's saying I'm a gold digger, I'm a ho,
just bringing a good man down.
- We know that he's not a good man.
- You're cops.
Everybody at church, even if they see the video,
they'll just say it's not him.
- We show the video in court, and you say it's him,
a jury will know.
- Why would I want that shown in court?
All those people--
I never should've shown it to you.
If I kept my mouth shut and kept the money,
let him move on to his next special girl--
- Which girl?
[dramatic music]
- I don't know what you're talking about.
And you better get out of here before Carl comes home.
He hates cops.
♪
- Two decaf, one regular. - Great.
- Let me know if you need anything else.
- Thank you so much, Lamai.
- Where were we?
Uh, yeah, I was about to say
we can make the case without Renee.
- That's what I would've said too, when I was a cop.
But her statement-- without the defense getting
a chance to cross-examine her, it won't be admissible.
- What about the video? - We can use it, but again,
without Renee, we can't even confirm that that's him
on the tape. - Okay, there is one way.
If we arrest him, then we can do a full body kit,
get his DNA, and photograph his torso.
- It's the Captain's call, not mine,
but I do know the longer we draw this out,
the more time he'll have to call in favors.
- I'll give you a head start, before I alert Ms. Hadid.
- At the risk of overstepping, can I ask that we
not embarrass his wife or the congregation
by arresting him in public?
- I will call his attorney and--
and arrange for the Reverend to turn himself in.
[foreboding music]
[indistinct clamoring]
- Hold on.
Hey, Chief, doing okay? - No.
It's never easy when mentors fall.
Laura, can we talk?
- You didn't have the decency
to call him in yourself, Christian?
- I'm sorry.
- [sighs] I am too.
He's not capable of this, Christian.
- I always-- - He's a good man.
- I always thought so.
That's why I refused to believe it at first.
- This girl Renee, she must be out for our money.
- It's not about money.
She's been vilified by her classmates, ostracized.
This is the last thing she wanted.
- Maybe she's upset because everybody knows she's lying.
She's been to our home. Delman looked out for her.
He spent more time tutoring her in math
than he did working on his own sermons.
♪
- And why is that, Laura?
♪
- Reverend Chase, on the charge of rape in the second degree,
how do you plead? - Not guilty.
- Not guilty, Your Honor. - People on bail?
- We request remand, Your Honor.
This charge is the first
of what we believe will be many others.
He works with young women in his church, at the school.
We believe he's a risk. - Your Honor,
Reverend Chase has led a career of profound public service,
unblemished by so much as a hint of scandal.
He has no intention to flee, only to clear his good name.
We ask he be released on his own recognizance.
- I will grant bail in the amount of 50,000,
with the condition the defendant
has no unsupervised contact
with any underage girls pending trial.
[indistinct chatter]
[gavel raps]
- I am grateful for the prayers and support
of my wife and co-pastor. [cheers and applause]
Even standing here wrongfully accused,
I'm a blessed man.
- Turning courthouse steps into his pulpit?
You see that coming?
- And his wife standing by his side?
- She perceives it as her duty.
Down to the dress she's wearing.
- There is no truth to today's charges.
My accuser is full of lies. [crowd shouting in agreement]
A girl who only seeks payment,
who through perfidy and deception,
has stolen hard-earned dollars from our church's coffers.
But she's not alone in her assault on our church.
- Look, Chief, you don't need to be here, really, let's--
- If he's going to revile me, I'd rather he do it to my face.
- My calls to justice have always been
a threat to the NYPD,
and they found a Judas quick to do their bidding.
And as Jesus forgave his Judas,
I forgive my betrayer.
[crowd cheers]
Deputy Chief Garland,
a member of my own flock,
so eager to prove his worth
to the lily-white establishment of the NYPD,
that he has concocted a sickening conspiracy
to try and bring me down.
And I know there are those who will believe
and swallow these lies,
like those who believed the lies the Romans told
about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
What did He do to deserve being nailed on the cross?
[crowd yells]
- I can't. - Yeah.
- You okay, Chief? - I've been cast out before.
It's a recurring theme. - [sighs]
- Hey, listen, don't take it personally.
There's a reason they call 'em a "flock."
He'll never lose them. - [sighs]
Maybe.
But I think he's losing the one person he needs the most.
.
- Why don't you have a seat right there?
- Del has been lying to me all these years.
It's the first time I've ever lied to him.
He thinks I'm paying a bereavement call.
I didn't tell him that it was you who called me last night.
- Thank you for coming in.
- After we spoke, I thought about, uh...
how--how did you say it?
- I think that I said that predators
can often groom their victims
under the cover of mentoring.
[soft dramatic music]
- I was awake all night.
All those hours Del told me he was tutoring...
♪
My God, how could I let that happen to those girls,
under my watch?
Under my roof?
♪
[sobs softly]
This morning,
I reached out to them.
Michelle, Renee, Breyona.
There could be others. I have no idea.
- And what did you say?
- I asked for their forgiveness.
♪
And I asked that they cooperate with you.
What did I do? My God.
- I couldn't believe he knew my name.
I felt so blessed.
- And when did things change?
- One night, he asked me to stay late after practice.
- That's when he offered to give me a massage.
- He was hugging me.
It turned into a kiss.
[tense music]
He put his tongue in my mouth.
- He told me that
he had never done this before with any other girl.
- That it would have to be our secret.
- That the feelings were so strong, it was God's will.
- Tell me about the video.
♪
- When he said he was coming to my room again,
I set up my laptop with the video camera recording.
- And when did you show him the video?
♪
- Last November.
I saw he was beginning to pay attention to Breyona.
I guess I was jealous.
- I didn't understand at the time why Renee was upset.
- And did he offer you money?
- He set up a scholarship fund and gave me a job.
- He bought my mom a car.
- Four months ago, after I showed him the video,
he confiscated my computer,
and he gave me and my mother $250,000.
- And was that Reverend Chase in the video?
- Yes.
- And how old were you at the time?
- Fifteen.
I know because I recorded it on my birthday.
♪
- Thank you, Renee.
Thank you for coming in.
I wanted to give you the heads-up
that Renee Lee testified before a grand jury today.
It's pretty damning.
- Renee.
I see clearly now how she led me to temptation.
She's no innocent.
She used her lithe body,
her suggestive smile to lure me to her,
no different from Bathsheba, bathing on the rooftop,
20 yards from King David.
- So you didn't assault her--
- I would never assault anyone. - More of a seduction?
- You got that right. Getting all gussied up
every time I came over to tutor her.
She entrapped me. Why else would she video--
- Reverend-- - And--and then lie to me
that she deleted the only copy?
She's the one who should be charged here with extortion.
- Yeah, maybe. But she was underage.
- A jury will look at her, and then at me,
and decide for themselves. - I hear you.
And--and to be honest, I-I'd be nervous,
if I didn't have two other girls from the church
who also testified to
the exact same pattern of grooming, seduction,
and sexual predation. - Were these girls--
- Underage? All of them, at the start.
By the time they turned 17, the good Reverend here
only seems to get tempted by a younger girl.
- T-they're setting me up.
It's gotta be part of a coordinated shakedown.
They know the church has money. Someone must've got to them.
- Delman. - Your client's right.
Someone did meet with them.
- To extort money from the church?
- No, to give them permission to tell the truth,
without fear of reprisal from you.
- I demand to know who in my congregation
would plot against me.
- There's no plot, Reverend.
She was seeking their forgiveness.
- "She"?
- Your wife.
♪
- Laura?
You--you turned her against me?
- [scoffs]
No, you did that.
And she'll never forgive herself
for what happened to those girls.
[knocking on door]
- Reverend Chase's lawyer is here.
Want me to tell him to go away?
- That's not a bad idea, but, uh, no, thanks.
- I'll be outside. - Thanks, Fin.
- Your sergeant's protective of you.
- Always. So...
the Reverend took the deal?
- He did.
I told him, going forward, I can no longer
be of counsel to the church and represent him.
So I arranged for other counsel to take over.
Can we talk off the record?
- Of course. Have a seat.
- I want you to know that I've gone over this
in my head a hundred times.
Never saw any of the signs.
I'm sick over it and ashamed.
- If it helps, I've heard hundreds of spouses,
of friends, of parents...
tell me exactly what you're telling me.
When there's a skilled predator,
one that's been operating for decades,
they are adept at shielding their dark side
from everyone,
except their victims.
- A wolf in sheep's clothing.
[somber music]
And I am so sorry for my part in this.
♪
- You were doing your job, defending your client.
- What he did, there is no defense.
♪
- Counselor, um, for what it's worth,
I wish we hadn't met under these circumstances.
- [breathes deeply]
Me too.
♪
[gate buzzes and opens]
- Christian. It was good of you to come.
- How are you, Delman?
- Enduring the tribulations
the Lord has deemed fit to send me.
- I was relieved to hear you decided to plead guilty.
- I wanted to spare the young women
the burden of having to testify.
- You mean spare yourself the humiliation?
- You sound angry, Christian.
- I'm struggling.
- You wanna talk about that? - Not with you.
- Then why are you here? To gloat?
To castigate?
Other than my new lawyer, you're my only visitor.
Laura won't even take my phone calls.
- Do you blame her?
- You know, Laura and I were never able to have a child?
And I thought God was testing me,
and that was the worst punishment
He could visit on me.
But now, to knock me down like this,
take away my church, put me behind bars--
- You're not Job in this story. Laura is.
- No, He's testing me.
God hasn't abandoned me, Christian.
This is all a part of His plan.
He wants me to minister to the souls
of all the men behind these bars.
That's why He did this to me. - You did this to yourself.
And until you realize that, there's no path to forgiveness
from Laura, me, or God.
♪
- Well, then. You've said your piece.
You needn't visit again.
Tomas?
[gate buzzes and opens]
- Delman.
[gate creaks]
I will pray for you.
[dramatic music]
♪
.
[dramatic music]
♪
[wolf howls]