Kenneth Cleary

"Let me ask you something, one hungry man to another; is there anything better than gorging on a fresh caught meal?"

Kenneth Cleary is a recurring villain in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, appearing in the episodes "Closure" and "Closure Part II". He is a serial rapist who preys on women in the New York and Washington D.C. areas.

He was portrayed by Neil Maffin.

In "closure"
Cleary is introduced as a suspect in the rapes of Harper Anderson and Jane Tyler. While he presents an image of a wealthy, successful family man, with a wife, Meredith, and a ytoung son, he is in fact a sadist who breaks into women's apartments and rapes them while sneering "Is this how you like it?".

The SVU detectives bring him in to their precinct for a lineup, but neither Anderson nor Tyler is able to identify him. Even though detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler are convinced he is guilty of the rapes, they are forced to let him go.

In "Closure Part II"
A year and a half later, Cleary is still raping women and using the same M.O., though by now he has started wearing a mask to avoid being arrested again.

Anderson has been stalking Cleary and his wife since he was released, complicating SVU's ongoing investigation of him. She witnesses him raping a woman, but after she smashes up his car with a crowbar, ADA Alexandra Cabot declines to let her testify against him in court, dismissing her as an unreliable witness.

Cleary's luck finally runs out when Meredith realizes that jewelry he had given her was in fact stolen property; he had robbed his victims and given her the jewelry to relive what he had done to them, even insisting that she wear it when they have sex. Horrified, Meredith agrees to testify against her husband. However, the judge decides that her testimony violates spousal privilege and declares a mistrial. Moments later, Meredith shoots Cleary dead in the middle of the courthouse.