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| “ | I see clearly now how she led me into temptation. She's no innocent. She used her lithe body, her suggestive smile to lure me to her, no different than Bathsheba bathing on a rooftop 20 yards from King David. | „ |
| ~ Delman Chase making excuses for raping a 15-year-old girl. |
Delman Chase is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Garland's Baptism By Fire". He is a Baptist minister who sexually abuses several teenage girls and uses his political connections and status in his community to cover it up.
He was portrayed by Roger Cross, who also voiced Ulysses in Fallout: New Vegas.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Chase and his wife Laura run a church and a school in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood in New York City that purport to help at-risk youth find a path to spiritual enlightenment and opportunities for a better life. Chase is revered in his community for making a difference in young people's lives, but his charisma and gift for preaching Scripture masks a dark side; he is a sexual predator who routinely molests and rapes teenage girls, and then buys their silence by financially supporting their families with money illegally withdrawn from the church's funds.
In addition to his status in his community, Chase has political connections with officials in city government and law enforcement. He is especially close to Christian Garland, the Bureau Chief of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit, having officiated at his wedding and stood as godfather to his daughter.
"Garland's Baptism By Fire"[]
When the church's treasurer is arrested for embezzlement, she makes a deal with the Manhattan District Attorney's office to reveal Chase's abuse of young girls in return for a lighter sentence. SVU Detectives Fin Tutuola and Amanda Rollins question the girls at Chase's school, several of whom confirm that Chase manipulated them into having sex with him until they got too old for him, at which point he would pay them off and move on to a younger girl. One girl, Renee Lee, gives them a recording she made of her sexual encounter with Chase without his knowledge, which gives SVU Captain Olivia Benson enough evidence to arrest him for several counts of statutory rape.
Assistant District Attorney Dominick Carisi Jr. convenes a grand jury and has Chase's victims testify about what he did to them, ultimately winning an indictment against him. Chase claims that the NYPD is persecuting him because he is Black, and congregants rush to his side, raising money for his bail. Laura, meanwhile, publicly denounces SVU and excommunicates Garland from the church. She changes her mind, however, when she talks to Renee and realizes that she is telling the truth; she begs Renee's forgiveness for unwittingly allowing her husband to rape her and the other girls and tells Benson to put him in prison.
Chase and his lawyer meet with Carisi and try to persuade him to drop the charges, with Chase claiming that Renee "led him into temptation", and that there is a conspiracy against him. Carisi responds by showing him the sworn statements of his other victims and telling him that Laura is willing to testify about what he did. Defeated, Chase pleads guilty to several statutory rape charges, and is given a long prison sentence. The church severs all ties with him, Laura refuses to take his phone calls, and even his own lawyer refuses to represent him any longer.
A disillusioned Garland goes to see Chase in prison; other than his new lawyer, he is Chase's only visitor. Garland is even more disappointed to see that Chase still refuses to accept responsibility for his crimes, claiming that his imprisonment is part of God's plan for him to minister to the other prisoners. When Chase accuses Garland of taking away his family and his church, Garland replies that he did that to himself, but nonetheless promises to pray for him. Chase then tells Garland not to visit him again and goes back to his cell.
External Links[]
- Delman Chase on the Law & Order Wiki
