One of the sickest of crimes, abuse of little children is one of the most difficult to prosecute. Something that Michael Moriarty and Richard Brooks are reminded of in this episode.
The child of divorced parents Barry Primus and Anna Holbrook is snatched from a department store in midtown Manhattan from the nanny that Primus hired. Jerry Orbach and Chris Noth find the victim with her mother at a shelter run by pyschologist Joyce Van Patten. They accuse the father of sexual abuse.
In the end accusations are made all around. Primus is accused of molesting his daughter, Holbrook is accused of wanting total custody, Van Patten is called a charlatan by some and a saint by others. The little girl takes the stand, but her credibility is in question and she may have been coached.
I'm sure a lot of perpetrators get off or are never brought to trial because the littlest victims make such terrible witnesses. They can and have been manipulated in the past and will be again in the future.
Watch the episode and see what you think of the characters and their motivations.
The child of divorced parents Barry Primus and Anna Holbrook is snatched from a department store in midtown Manhattan from the nanny that Primus hired. Jerry Orbach and Chris Noth find the victim with her mother at a shelter run by pyschologist Joyce Van Patten. They accuse the father of sexual abuse.
In the end accusations are made all around. Primus is accused of molesting his daughter, Holbrook is accused of wanting total custody, Van Patten is called a charlatan by some and a saint by others. The little girl takes the stand, but her credibility is in question and she may have been coached.
I'm sure a lot of perpetrators get off or are never brought to trial because the littlest victims make such terrible witnesses. They can and have been manipulated in the past and will be again in the future.
Watch the episode and see what you think of the characters and their motivations.