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| “ | It was just like in the movie. The guy said, "You're my bitch, I own you", and everyone respected him...I'm sick of everyone picking on me. The guy in the movie didn't get picked on after he had sex. That's why I did it. | „ |
| ~ Jack explaining why he raped David Zelinsky. |
Jack Tremblay is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Unorthodox". He is a 14-year-old boy who sexually abuses his younger school friends after being inspired by online pornography.
He was portrayed by Alexander Gould.
Biography[]
Jack's mother died when he was young and his father George worked late to support Jack and his brother Adam, leaving them home alone for long periods of time every day. He was routinely bullied at school by other boys his age and spent most of his time around younger children who he felt more comfortable with. Like most boys his age, Jack was exposed to hardcore pornography online and on TV and soon became obsessed with it, watching it constantly when he was home alone. He was particularly fascinated by a film he saw depicting a graphic prison rape scene, as the rapist in the film was respected by his fellow prisoners afterwards and Jack believed that his classmates would similarly stop bullying him if he had sex with somebody. He also watched a number of other porn films depicting rape, believing that what he was seeing was normal.
At some point, Jack decided to act out his fantasies with some of his younger friends in the hope of getting respect from his classmates, assuming that they also had the same desires as him. He forced at least three younger girls - Ashley James, Michelle Garrett, and Lucy Rhodes - to have sex with him behind the dumpsters at school, telling they had to do it if they wanted him to keep being their friend. He also forced 10-year-old David Zelinsky to have sex with him in imitation of what he saw in the prison rape film, repeating it half a dozen times. Jack assumed that all of them wanted to have sex with him, as his only understanding of consent came from watching porn, but in reality all of them were afraid of him and only kept from reporting it out of fear.
"Unorthodox"[]
Jack rapes David at school for the seventh time. Afterwards, a school police officer notices David bleeding and has him sent to hospital, where doctors discover that he was sexually abused and contact the Manhattan Special Victims Unit to investigate. The SVU initially assume that the rapist is a member of David's Hasidic community being protected by local elders; however, forensic analysis reveals that the rapist's pubic hairs belong to an adolescent, leading them to realize he was abused by a boy at his school. David is asked which of his friends attacked him and reluctantly gives the detectives Jack's name.
Detectives Elliot Stabler and Fin Tutuola of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit arrest Jack at his apartment while he is watching porn. Stabler interrogates Jack, who admits to having sex with David repeatedly after seeing it in a porn film and explains that he thought that David liked it and that his classmates would respect him if he lost his virginity. Upon hearing his confession, Jack's father George angrily disowns him and leaves him in police custody.
Lawyer Roxana Fox agrees to represent Jack pro bono, claiming that he was too young to understand what he was doing. Stabler, sympathizing with Jack and believing he can still be rehabilitated, convinces Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak not to try Jack as an adult and to send him to family court instead. However, during family court proceedings Jack's other three victims come forward and accuse him, prompting Novak to arraign him on rape charges and remove him to criminal court to be tried as an adult.
At trial, Fox argues that Jack's exposure to hardcore porn sexualized him and led him to believe that what he was doing was okay, calling an expert witness who testifies that exposure to sex in media affects children's sexual development. Jack also testifies that he was only doing what he saw on TV and he thought his victims wanted to do it to. Novak cross-examines Jack and asks him if he really didn't realize he was hurting them, to which Jack explains that he thought their crying and begging to stop was normal because it happened on TV; however, as Novak questions him in increasing detail he finally realizes that he hurt them and begins crying. George walks into the courtroom during the testimony, having been convinced to forgive his son by Stabler, and Jack desperately apologizes to him for hurting the other children.
At the close of the trial, Fox argues that Jack had no way of knowing what he did was wrong because his only experience of sex came from watching porn without being taught about consent, while Novak argues that Jack did it because he felt powerless and wanted to hurt someone weaker than him to feel better. Ultimately, the jury finds Jack not responsible and the judge orders him committed to the Bellevue mental hospital in order to undergo psychiatric treatment.
External links[]
- Jack Tremblay on the Law & Order Wiki
