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| “ | You weren't like the others, even back then. Ah, come on, I knew you were special. To be honest, you were my favorite. | „ |
| ~ Jack Westbrook manipulating Brian Stiller. |
Jack Westbrook is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "The Boys of Sudworth Place". He is a pedophile who is kidnapped and held prisoner by three of his former victims.
He was portrayed by Jeffrey Nordling, who also portrayed Jordan Reed in Law & Order.
Biography[]
Early life[]
A former assistant district attorney, Westbrook decided to become a defense attorney, specializing in defending young men accused of petty crimes. He is a pillar of his community with a great reputation.
Behind his upstanding façade, however, he hides a dark secret: he is a pedophile who sexually abuses young boys. His adoring wife, Linda, has no idea what he has done, and by the time the episode takes place, she is seven months pregnant with their child. They move frequently, and Westbrook tells her it is because he fears for their safety; in reality, it is because he is trying to stay one step ahead of the police.
He volunteers his time as a mentor at Sudworth Place, a halfway house for boys convicted of petty crimes, serving their sentences there instead of juvenile detection centers. Westbrook preys on the boys there by befriending them and showering them with gifts and attention before ultimately abusing them. In the early 2000s, he sexually abuses Brian Stiller, Matthew Jones, Chad Griffith, and Andrew Ford, with Stiller being his "favorite". Westbrook's abuse warps Stiller's mind, turning him into a pedophile, as well.
A week before the episode takes place, Jones commits suicide, unable to deal with the trauma of what Westbrook did to him. His death inspires Griffith and Ford to hatch a plan to kidnap Westbrook and record him confessing what he did to them so they can give it to the police.
"The Boys of Sudworth Place"[]
After successfully defending a teenage boy from breaking and entering charges, Westbrook returns to his office to finish paperwork on the case and buy flowers for Linda. He sees Ford, whom he does not recognize, vandalizing his car, and calls the police. Just then, Griffith sneaks up behind him and knocks him unconscious.
Westbrook regains consciousness in a ball pit within an abandoned recreation center that had once belonged to Sudworth Place, where he had coached the boys' hockey team and raped them in the shower room. He gradually recognizes his captors and claims to have changed since he abused them. When that doesn't work, he tells them that he put their lives on the right track, and that without him they would have ended up in jail or dead. Griffith and Ford call over Stiller, who did not know of the plan and is horrified to discover what they have done. Stiller and Griffith get into a violent argument that ends with Stiller accidentally knocking Griffith into the pit, killing him.
Meanwhile, Linda reports Westbrook's disappearance and the police work with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) to understand his kidnapping. After a look into Westbrook's background, they discover he may be a pedophile. Agent Emily Prentiss tells Linda what her husband did, but she refuses to believe it. Ultimately, however, the BAU discovers Westbrook's secret apartment, which is full of child pornography and obscene pictures he took of his victims; upon seeing this evidence, Linda calls a divorce lawyer.
Westbrook tries to manipulate Stiller by telling him that Ford will blame everything on him, and that he will kill both of them, sooner or later. He promises to get Stiller out of trouble if he helps him out of the pit, and Stiller agrees, lowering a rope so Westbrook can climb out. He then tells Stiller to kill Ford, and then to get rid of his "keepsakes". When Stiller claims not to know what he is talking about, Westbrook replies that he has always known that they were alike, and that Stiller must have souvenirs of his victims, just as Westbrook does. Enraged and frightened, Stiller shoots Westbrook dead while lying to Ford that Westbrook tried to kill him.
The two set the place ablaze to burn the dead bodies and try to escape. Just then, the BAU arrive, intent on arresting Westbrook and Stiller, only to find that the former is dead. Stiller protests that nobody was supposed to die, but Agent Derek Morgan - who was himself molested as a child by a pedophile posing as a mentor - manages to talk him down, stating he would get a confession. Stiller tries to pin the blame on Ford and Griffth. Much to Stiller's surprise, however, they arrest him for child sexual abuse, possession of child pornography, and murder. Morgan remarks to Ford that he got his confession, just not the one he wanted.
Trivia[]
- Westbrook is based on two real-life child sexual abusers:
- Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University who used his charity, the Second Mile, to sexually abuse dozens of young boys.
- The late John Atchison, a district attorney and coach of girls’ sports teams arrested in a sting using an account fictitiously offering a daughter being pimped out by her mother; Atchison committed suicide in prison.
External links[]
- Jack Westbrook on the Criminal Minds Wiki
