.
- 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.
- We are living in the season of the lord's return, friends.
Matthew 24 warns us that no one,
not the angels in heaven,
not Jesus himself,
knows the hour nor the day
that the Son of Man will return.
Two men will be in the field.
One will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding with a hand mill.
♪
- Down.
- End of the line. Last stop.
Hey. You hear me?
You got to get off the train now.
Okay, I'm coming in.
- Unaccompanied teenager.
She locked herself in the bathroom.
Looks like somebody roughed her up a little.
- We're not sure yet.
- She's not real talkative.
- She still won't come out.
- Take it easy.
What's your name?
- It's okay. We'll take care of you.
- She said anything to either one of you?
- Not a word. - Okay.
All right, honey.
Looks like you got hit with something there.
Why don't you come on out of the bathroom?
We can get you some medical attention.
- Okay.
♪
My name's Amanda.
How long has it been since you've eaten?
Ah, ah, ah, ah.
Look, I'll trade you
some candy for your name.
- Esther.
- Yep. Now we're getting somewhere.
That's good.
Got a last name, Esther?
- The nation shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory.
And you shall be called by a new name
that the Lord will give.
- Okay. Good.
Here you go. Come here. Come here.
Look. Let me and you
get out of the bathroom, off this train.
We can talk some more, okay?
Okay, easy, easy. Easy, you got it,
Works with Frannie.
- Frannie's a dog.
- All right, now we're gonna go to a hospital.
We're gonna let a doctor make sure you're that okay.
- Doctor. - No--no.
It's gonna be all right.
I'm gonna--I'm gonna stay with you the whole time, all right?
We're going to need to call your parents
and let them know where we're going, okay?
- They don't have a phone. - Well...
- No! - Whoa--whoa--whoa.
Okay. Easy. Easy. Easy. Back--back off.
Lose the gurney. - It's against regulations.
- I will take responsibility, okay?
Now, I'll ride with her in the back.
It's okay, Esther, it's okay. It's all right.
Esther, how you doing?
You know, pretty soon, you're gonna
have to tell me where your mom and dad live.
- Mm-mm, mm-mm. I'll be punished.
- I'm not allowed to ride on a train.
- That doesn't sound like something
you should be punished for.
- "The Lord has disciplined me severely.
But he has not given me over to death."
- Have you learned the good book, too?
- Yeah, I used to go to church a lot when I was a little girl.
My grandmama, she played the organ every Sunday.
Hey, who told you you'd be punished
if you rode the train?
- Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,
but bring them up with the discipline
and the instruction of the Lord.
- She's incredibly malnourished,
barely 90 pounds.
She keeps asking for more food,
but we've got to take it slow.
- I'm sure you noticed the abrasions on her forehead.
There's also chafing on her ankles
and her wrists. She might have been tied up.
- Okay, did you do a tox
- We tried. She looked at the needle and flipped out.
Won't answer any questions about her medical history.
I doubt she's bathed in weeks.
- Okay, what about a rape kit?
- Did she say she'd been assaulted?
- No, but she--she's so traumatized,
I wouldn't be surprised.
- Well, she barely let me swab her mouth for saliva.
I can't imagine subjecting her to a pelvic exam right now.
- Do you need to keep her overnight?
- I don't think so.
You can have her for a few hours.
We've already reached out to child services.
- Hey, lieutenant. Of the four commuters
on the train that I talked to, nobody remembers seeing Esther.
Also her prints are not in the system.
- There was semen in her underwear.
Send them to the ME for DNA profiling.
- So we may be looking at a sex crime
on top of the abuse.
Okay, I'll talk to her and see if I can find out
what is going on here.
Rollins has already kind of made
a connection with this girl. - So you're thinking
another strange face may not be the best idea?
Okay.
- Hey.
Dr. Hale said that it would be fine
for you to have a slice but I don't think two slices
will do too much damage.
- Thank you. - Mm-hmm.
I know you got to be scared, Esther,
but I'm really just trying to help you.
You understand that, right?
Is there a reason you might not want to go back home?
Do you live in a house or an apartment?
- A house... with white window frames.
- You have brothers or sisters?
- Yes.
- You must miss them.
Is there a reason why you wanted to leave your home?
- I was scared.
- But the Lord says do not fear for I am with you.
Do not be dismayed, for I will uphold you
with my righteous hand.
- Is your father the one that--
that hurt your head?
- I-I-I fell.
- Esther, did...did your father force you to have sex with him?
- No.
- But you had sex with somebody.
- Hey.
It's okay. It's okay.
I can tell she's smart by the biblical connections
she's making-- - But it's like it was drilled
into her-- - Oh yeah, this goes way past
the Sunday school indoctrination
my mom made me sit through.
This is a form of control. It's a way to discourage
analytical thinking. - Or a place to turn
if she's lost or in pain.
- Or scare you into thinking you're gonna burn in hell
if you--you wear a skirt above your knee.
I mean, somebody's doing this to keep her in line
and she's still protecting them.
- DNA's back.
No hits on any of the databases.
But it's a familial match.
- Well, the perp shares
partial matches with Esther in ten alleles.
- Okay, so the father's out.
- Yeah, so it's a brother or an uncle, maybe.
.
- Our girl is safe and sound
in the custody of child services.
- Did you make any headway with her?
- No, every time I go near sex, she shuts down
or she recites some of that scripture
she's been brainwashed with. - Okay. So,
we're going to have to do the heavy lifting here.
Would be nice to know who she actually is.
- Not much to go on.
There's no missing persons report
matching Esther's description.
- She probably lives off the Port Washington Branch
of that commuter train. - Okay, Rollins,
get her picture to the local media.
Somebody has to recognize her.
- On it. - Carisi and I'll check
the Long Island railroad security cams.
- And the thing is it all goes on video these days.
There's no such thing as the Fourth Amendment
in the five boroughs.
Guess that's why all the cops I know live in Nassau County.
- She was on the 8:17 out of Port Washington.
She got on after the Little Neck station.
- So let's start with Douglaston.
This is just as the 8:17's pulling in.
- That's her right there.
- Freeze.
- Those two guys have on
the same jacket the girl had on.
- You know how many army surplus stores
there are in Douglaston?
I see you carry parkas.
- Snorkel parkas, sure. You in the market?
- Well, actually, I'm looking for the name of anyone
who bought one in the last five years.
- I must have sold hundreds of those things.
- Okay, how about I narrow it down.
Any customer who bought at least three of them
at the same time.
- That I could check.
We sold three of those last year to a...
David Johnson. - Okay.
- Is David Johnson one of these guys?
- Wouldn't know. Didn't make the sale.
Sorry.
We start randomly canvassing Douglaston?
- If we have to, yes. - Esther's on her way back here
and I'd really like another go.
- Look this TLC approach isn't working with this girl.
I say we try a little fire and brimstone this time.
- How are we gonna find a perp if she won't
even tell us where she lives?
- Okay, how about we give Amanda
a little more one
- Thanks.
- Excuse me...
I'm here for my daughter, Esther.
Esther Labott.
My wife saw her picture on the news.
- Yeah, we've been waiting for you, Mr. Labott.
I'm--I'm Lieutenant Benson.
- Yeah, Esther's just fine.
- Okay, so help--help us understand.
If you were worried about your daughter,
why didn't you file a missing persons report?
- We called the Toms River Police.
They told us we had to wait 24 hours.
They were no help whatsoever.
- Here.
- Yesterday.
My wife and I woke up and she was gone.
- These two guys. You ever seen 'em before?
- No. - So it's just a coincidence
that they have on the same coats as your daughter?
- My daughter doesn't have a coat like that.
I appreciate you finding my daughter
but right now I just want to take her home.
- In cases where there's potential abuse,
we can't just hand over a child to her parents.
- Esther is not a child.
She's 27 years old.
- Oh, my God.
- Praise Jesus, Esther. Esther. Esther.
What happened? Did someone take you?
- No, no, no. I-I ran away.
- I'm sorry, Papa.
- Esther, your mother was inconsolable.
You know better, Esther.
- Children, obey your parents in all things:
for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
- Mr. Labott...
This may be difficult to hear,
but when we found Esther
she had semen in her underwear
and we tested it
and it was a close familial match.
- I'm not surprised.
My wife...
She found Esther and her brother...
at laying together.
I'll admit, I did paddle her,
but I most certainly did not abuse my daughter.
Hmm?
- Esther fasts to gain spiritual understanding.
- When she decides to fast, I often join her.
So you don't eat for three weeks, either?
Hmm?
- We live an unconventional lifestyle,
off the grid, homeschooling our children...
but we are a loving, law-abiding family
It's time for us to go.
- Nobody's going anywhere. - Hey, hey, hey!
- Back up, sir. Back up.
Okay? We have...
A lot more questions.
- Which you can refer to my lawyer.
If you try to detain me or my daughter,
I can promise you there will be legal consequences.
- Give Mr. Labott his phone call.
- You don't have to go with your father.
- I won't go against Papa's wishes.
- We can protect you if you're scared of going home, Esther.
Why don't you take some more time?
Maybe--maybe another night to think about it, okay?
- He loves me.
He didn't do anything wrong.
- Did...somebody else in your family?
- No one did anything to me.
I want to go home, Amanda.
- She insists on leaving with that self-righteous creep.
- Labott's a piece of work. - There's nothing worse
than a Bible-thumping hypocrite.
- Okay, let's stay focused. Carisi, what did we learn
from New Jersey?
- Labott used to teach geology at Trenton Tech.
He made a little money off this patent,
something to do with water filtration.
- Birth certificate and his driver's license
are legit. - And I got off the phone
with Stone. Turns out, believe it or not,
incest is not illegal in the Garden State.
- There's no rape, there's no assault.
- Plus the girl's over 18.
So endangerment and child abuse is out.
- Cut him loose. - No, we can't let Esther
leave with that man. - Amanda, if she chooses
to leave, it is her choice and there's nothing
that we can do-- - Not one thing
in his story makes sense.
I mean the Labotts don't file a missing persons report.
- I know that, I agree-- - She ends up 90 miles
away from home with these two guys in matching jackets...
- Agree with you, right, but... - Hunting her down.
- She is a competent adult.
Labott knows his rights and there is nothing we can do.
- She's not competent. She's brainwashed.
She--she was tied up, Liv. She was starved.
- I understand that,
but in New York state there is no crime
that we can charge him with.
- I can't believe this is happening.
You're free to leave.
- Thank you for finding my daughter.
- Don't mention it. - Let's go, dear.
- Good-bye, Amanda.
.
- Hey, Liv.
I just--I can just make it home to read to Noah.
- I want to apologize for going off on you today.
- Amanda, you and I both know how hard it is
to walk away from something when your gut
is screaming that--that something's wrong.
- I overreacted. And...
I'm thinking that I could use a mental health day or two.
You want to dig in on Labott?
Fin and Carisi said
they'd hold down the fort.
- Do not ruffle any feathers in New Jersey.
- I won't. - And you keep me in the loop.
- I will.
Thank you.
- Labott's three months in arrears.
- I rented to him about four years ago.
- Labott!
I don't believe this.
Look what these animals did to my property.
- I've no idea.
He said he had lots of kids, but...
There's a dead rabbit in there.
Going through the Labotts' mail.
That's a federal offense, you know.
- Won't be a problem.
- Oh, sorry. - No, it's okay.
When's the last time you saw the family?
- They moved out a couple of months ago.
- Did you ever notice anything unusual about them?
Maybe with the kids?
- Oh, they stayed inside, mostly.
Debbie told me that they were licensed as a home school.
- Oh, the lady of the house.
She paid me to forward their mail.
- I'm going to need that address.
- I have it inside. - Great.
- It's some place in Queens, it--ah! Douglaston.
- Children, let's take a picture before we begin.
Line up here.
Would you mind taking our picture?
- Sure. - Thank you.
Okay, don't forget to smile.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Let's go bowling.
Bowling, let's go.
- Each kid got to bowl one frame.
- They look like some kind of reality show.
- Outfits are a bit much, but other than that,
looks like a pretty normal family outing.
- Yeah, William bought five hot dogs
and broke them in half for the kids.
- Well, maybe he's low on cash.
- Look, the kids all look underweight.
And what happened in that house in New Jersey
wasn't about poverty or cutesy outfits.
The Labott family is its own patriarchal cult.
Now this so-called father has them inbreeding
and scrounging for food like rats.
- Like the Turpin family out in California.
- Well, if the incest happened in Queens, it's a felony.
- So you want to press charges on her now?
- Who even knows if that was really voluntary?
Esther may not be a minor,
but most of the Labott kids are.
- Have there been any complaints to child services
in Queens or New Jersey? - No, but--I mean
the neighbors have to have their head in the sand
if they don't see what's going on, right?
- Taking this kind of personal, Amanda.
- If I don't, what am I doing here?
- They moved in a couple months ago...
I saw the guy shoveling his driveway once.
We both waved at each other.
That's about it.
- I've seen a bunch of them piling in their minivan
a couple times. They look weird.
- They're all pale, scrawny.
They all wear these green jackets
and the same sneakers, like some kind of uniform.
- Well, do you ever see them leave the house
to go to school or do they play outside?
- They're not on the school bus with my two boys.
Their lights are on all night. I see them inside...
marching back and forth,
back and forth.
And you never thought to call Social Services, maybe?
- Hey, I mind my own business.
As far as I know, they're not doing anything wrong.
♪
- Mom!
Mom! I'm hungry!
[child hyperventilating and crying]
Mom!
- No, no, no, shh. It's okay, it's okay.
All right? I'm here to help you, okay?
- Mom! - No, honey, honey, it's okay.
All right? It's okay. - Rachel.
Rachel, you must not cry anymore.
- Esther...
- You should not be here. - No, no.
- You'd better not be playing the devil's games
in there again. - You have to go.
- Listen, it's okay, it's okay. - You have to go.
- I'm going to go get help, all right?
- Get the hell off my property.
- You're making a big mistake.
- Better go now.
- Okay. Okay.
.
- Labott, his wife, at least
nine other family members, half of 'em kids.
- Yeah,
at least two long guns,
a twelve gauge, and a semi-auto.
Any threats against kids?
- Not so far. - Well, we got ESU
and the hostage negotiation team on the way.
- Okay, well, I wouldn't classify
the adults in there as hostages.
They're under the father's sway and my bet is
that they'd rather stay put then be liberated.
- Lieutenant. - Is everyone okay
inside the house? - Depends on what you mean
by okay. - Well, now that you're here,
maybe you can explain what Detective Rollins
is doing antagonizing the people in my precinct
without any heads - Let's not...
turn this situation into a turf war.
- You didn't answer my question.
- Hey, how about we get something straight?
I ask you the questions here.
- I am here as part of an on-going
abuse investigation into this family.
- We haven't had any complaints.
There's a little girl in there
tied up to a radiator with a chain like a dog.
- Yeah.
- I'm going to go figure out where the hell ESU is.
- Okay, and when they show up, you keep them out of sight,
'cause I don't want this to escalate.
We need to open a line of communication.
- Well, the local squad tossed a throw phone up there.
Labott didn't take it.
- Okay, I need a megaphone.
Mr. Labott, It's Olivia Benson from SVU.
I'd like to talk with you.
Please, Mr. Labott, I'm concerned
about your children. Can you at least tell me
that they're okay?
Please, Mr. Labott, let's just talk.
- I don't know
if that's a good idea, Rollins. - If we're not making headway
with William, maybe we can reach him through Esther.
- Okay.
- Mr. Labott.
It's Amanda Rollins.
I-I helped your daughter Esther out
when they found her on the train.
Listen, I'd like to see her.
I care about your daughter and I-I need to know
that she's all right.
- Go out.
- All right.
Good. Okay.
- You see, she's fine.
- Thank you, Mr. Labott.
Now, you know what?
Would it be all right if Esther just went ahead and left?
Into a world where--where greed and ignorance
are laying waste to our Mother Earth?
Where technology has corrupted our society
with narcissism and alienation?
Esther understands that the cataclysms
foretold in the good book have come to pass.
Famine.
The rising seas.
- Come on... - She needs to shelter
here with her family
for the end of days, period.
- William.
Can she make that decision for herself?
Like you did.
Esther...
Do you want to stay?
- You speak to me, not to my daughter.
Go.
- William. - No, no, no, no.
Oh, no.
- You still think you can reason with that lunatic?
- As long as he's still talking to us.
Tell him to send out the younger children
as a token of good faith.
- Mr. Labott has gone to great lengths
to isolate himself, to isolate his family.
No one is coming out of that house
until he's good and ready. - Come on.
- Wait. - I want you guys to spot up...
- That's not a good sign.
Captain.
What's going on?
- There's a blind spot in the northeast corner of that house.
We're going to put a couple of guys
on the roof with a polecam.
- You cannot move in on that house.
- That'll destroy any trust that we've built up with him.
- I need eyes in there. - Captain--
- If Labott starts to lose it...
I can respond before it's too late.
- Give me one hour before you escalate this.
- Lieutenant, stand down.
Or do I have to get the chief of patrol out here?
ESU 5, do you copy? - Copy.
- Execute stage one. - Copy that.
♪
- Coming out.
- Move, move, move, move, move!
- Come on, come on, come on.
- All right, go, go, go.
- Open fire now!
- Hold your fire!
Hold your fire. - Hold fire! Hold fire!
- No... No! No!
- Hands up. Let me see your hands!
- Let's go!
- Down on the ground.
All the way. All the way down.
- Ma'am, down. - Appears to be...
- Bathroom clear!
- You're okay.
- Clear!
- A child!
- No...
Esther... No, don't, no...
- You killed my children.
For what?
.
The ones you didn't kill.
- They're headed to a hospital.
Then they'll be moved to foster homes.
- 'Cause you're not getting out of here.
- Yet I take comfort...
that my family will carry on and embrace the knowledge
that I gave to them.
- You're demented.
- You say that now.
But you'll remember the name William Labott when
the fires of the apocalypse are raging around you...
When you realize...
just as you and your kind have turned your backs
on Him, so shall He...
turn His back on you...
At the second coming.
- If that woman hadn't broken in,
none of this would have happened.
My children would still be alive.
- Don't you dare try to put what happened out there on us.
Sit down.
I'm sorry for your loss,
but don't do that.
Explain to me how you could do those terrible things
to your own kids.
- Open your eyes.
The government's controlled by Silicon Valley.
Technology is a gateway, an addiction to everything
that's evil in the world.
We had to trust and abide in the Lord
and raise our children so they could flourish
in a cold and corrupt world.
- Is that when the discipline got worse?
- It didn't happen overnight.
Over the course of time, the...
fasting...
the punishments...
William said that we had to be strict,
to teach them to be righteous.
We had to be tough on them.
- You were very tough on them.
- Not always.
Sometimes.
- You knew it was wrong.
Didn't you? - No.
- I don't believe that, Mrs. Labott.
I know you ran out of that house
carrying your little ones.
I know that there's something still decent inside of you.
Why didn't you say something?
Why didn't you leave when things started to get worse?
- Because I was afraid.
If I stayed there, at least I could do
what I could to protect my babies.
Am I going to go to jail?
- What is going to happen to Jacob?
My baby.
- So God told you to torture your kids?
- I was a good father. Granted, I was severe.
- Your children were tortured.
Broken, like animals.
- The chains taught them discipline.
Fasting brought them closer to God.
- No, you starved your 27-year-old daughter
her entire life.
She was the size of a little girl.
You know? It's really-- it's too bad we can't
rain down some biblical punishment--
- Amanda. Amanda! - It's really--
- Amanda! My office, now!
- Amanda.
I know that this is hard.
Just imagine how hard those kids' lives were.
And then to have to sit there and listen to that zealot
use God to justify it! - I get it.
Amanda, but I need you to get your head on straight.
- Okay. I'm fine.
Do you think you can do that? - Yes.
- Because when this case is finally over...
- It is over.
- I wish that were true.
Preliminary ballistics came back
on the siege of the Labott house.
- That was fast.
- You fired the bullet that killed Esther Labott.
- N--
Oh.
Oh, God.
- Amanda.
Oh, my--
- You know the drill.
You're gonna talk to the force investigative group
and you're gonna talk to IAB.
And I am confident that...
that you're going to be back on the job
in the next few days.
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Oh, my God...
♪
.
♪