| “ | Gia can't live without me. | „ |
| ~ George Zane rationalizing his abuse of Gia to the detectives. |
George Zane is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Educated Guess". He is a sexual predator who has molested and raped his niece, Gia Eskas, since she was a child.
He was portrayed by Tim Guinee, who also portrayed Richard Morriston in Law & Order, David Bishop in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Adrian Cross in Smallville.
Biography[]
George was married to Bella Zane, and he was also close to her sister Diane Eskas and Diane's daughter Gia, who was 12 when Zane married Bella. Unbeknownst to his wife and sister-in-law, however, he was a sexual predator who began molesting Gia when she was 14. Over time, he began to delude himself into thinking that Gia was in love with him.
His abuse drove Gia to abuse drugs to numb the trauma, at one point landing her in a psychiatric hospital. Because Bella and Diane believed Gia was mentally ill, they did not believe her when she said that George was abusing her, dismissing her story as a drug-induced delusion.
"Educated Guess"[]
George impersonates a doctor to have access to Gia at her facility, where he rapes her again, something witnessed by another patient.
The patient tells the staff about the rape, and the staff reports it to the NYPD's Special Victims Unit. Gia undergoes a rape kit, which revealed that she has a history of sexual abuse. George becomes the prime suspect after Detectives Olivia Benson and Nick Amaro figure out that he was the doctor from the camera footage, and they bring him in for questioning.
George admits to impersonating a doctor, but he says that he has a consensual sexual relationship with Gia that began when she was of legal age; he even produces what he claims is a love letter from her. He also says that his sex life with Bella ended when she was diagnosed with cancer. Gia denies that she ever consented to have sex with George, and she says that the "love letter" is in fact a drawing she made when she was 12 as a wedding present.
Benson, Amaro, and Detective Amanda Rollins get a search warrant for George's house, and find his toolbox, which is locked and requires a combination. They ask Bella - who turns out to have never had cancer - and Diane for their birthdays as well as George's, but those numbers don't unlock the toolbox; acting on a hunch, Benson asks Diane for Gia's birthday, which turns out to be the combination.
They open the toolbox and find that it contains Polaroids of an adolescent Gia in her underwear. Diane realizes that Gia was telling the truth about the abuse and accuses Bella of letting it happen. Bella frantically states that the pictures are fake and that George would never harm Gia. Diane is not fooled, however, and agrees to testify against George and back up Gia's account of the abuse.
In the end, George is sentenced to life in prison for multiple counts of rape, child molestation, and possession of child pornography.
External links[]
- George Zane on the Law & Order Wiki
