Rockabye is an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. It originally aired on November 22, 2005.

Episode recap

At a hotel, a hooker overhears a sixteen-year-old girl (Lauren Westley) being battered and apparently saying, “Stop; don’t.” She goes to the door just to see the batterer run away, leaving the girl on the ground. After arriving at the hospital, the girl gets blood drawn and then sneaks out a side entrance. Munch reports that the girl came from Palassi, Virginia two weeks ago, but her father (Phillip Westley) only reported her missing two days ago.

Benson and Stabler go to the Manhattan Women’s Sexual Health Clinic for answers, and although the doctor that saw her (Dr. Lett) does recognize her, he declines to break doctor-patient confidentiality. Phillip then arrives at the police station and says that Lauren came to Manhattan to visit friends, but he came himself when he discovered that none of her friends had talked to her. He then insists that Lauren doesn’t date because she made the Golden Promise, where children abstain from sex until their married. Munch then reports that Lauren is pregnant while Cragen shows that the sexual health clinic provides abortion services. Benson and Fin then find Lauren nearly dead in a car with turkey, wheat bread, tomatoes, utensils and a rose.

At the hospital, the doctor reveals that Lauren’s fetus is still alive, but it becomes stillborn after Lauren’s life is saved. Dr. Lett admits that Lauren came to him for an abortion but that he couldn’t perform it because the baby was too far along. Munch then shows evidence of a boy around Lauren’s age (Wayne Mortens) who purchased the exact same things that were found in the car with Lauren; then Fin states that Phillip sent Lauren’s older sister away because she got pregnant. Phillip insists that Wayne raped Lauren and Stabler suggests that the sex might have been consensual; then he calls Wayne while posing as a hospital attendant and tells him to come to the hospital. After Wayne arrives, Stabler arrests him, and against his lawyer’s wishes, he confesses to beating Lauren.

The lawyer tries to plead him out to a lesser charge, but Novak refuses; however, she can’t charge Wayne with murder because a fetus is not recognized as a person under New York law. Warner then reveals that Lauren was also involved in the beating by hitting herself, and when asked about it, Lauren admits that she’d said “don’t stop” rather than “stop; don’t”. Phillip then starts to desert her, but Stabler stops him. Afterwards, Wayne admits to Novak and his lawyer (Sophie) that the beating was Lauren’s idea, and after Novak decides to charge Lauren and him with the same crime, Sophie argues that it’s unconstitutional because Wayne would be charged with a felony while Lauren would be charged with a misdemeanor. Branch tells Novak to file anyway, and he also instructs her to tell the trial judge (Elizabeth Donnelly) to recuse herself from the trial because of her views on abortion.

During the trial, Lauren says that she went to the sexual health clinic as soon as she got into Manhattan but the nurse (Judy Carlton) told her that she had a fever and to call back when she was feeling better; then she kept calling back but by the time she went back to the clinic, the fetus was too far along to perform the abortion. Novak and Sophie discover that the clinic has never actually performed a single abortion, and Novak is about to deal with her until Branch tells her not to. Warner then produces Lauren’s medical records, which show that while the nurse traditionally takes a patient’s temperature and blood pressure, Dr. Lett’s signature is on the chart instead. Judy is then put on the stand, and she confesses that Lauren’s temperature was normal, but that Dr. Lett instructed her to tell Lauren otherwise in order to delay performing the abortion. Wayne is eventually found guilty of the misdemeanor but not of the felony; then Branch instructs Novak to have Dr. Lett arrested.

Guest stars

Primary

• Skipp Sudduth as Phillip Westley
• Keri Lynn Pratt as Lauren Westley
• John Patrick Amedori as Wayne Mortens
• Robert Foxworth as Dr. Lett
• Adriane Lenox as Judy Carlton
• Joanna Merlin as Judge Lena Petrovsky
• Judith Light as Judge Elizabeth Donnelly
• Fred Dalton Thompson as Arthur Branch
• Annie Potts as Sophie DeVere

Secondary

• J. Paul Nicholas as Attorney Linden Delroy
• Dennis Predovic as Hotel manager
• Francis Jue as Dr. Fong
• Arie Thompson as Jolene
• Joselin Reyes as Paramedic Martinez
• Elizabeth Flax as E.R. Nurse
• Hank Davies as John
• Fiana Toibin as Nurse
• Charles Techman as Elderly man
• Hilary Hight as Jury foreperson
• Anthony Spina as Cell man

References

External links