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| “ | I can tell you have children. Do you wanna show me family photos? I promise not to drool. | „ |
| ~ Berlin making inappropriate remarks about Elliot Stabler's children. |
Jake Berlin is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Confession". He is a pedophile who runs Pediaphax, a "self-help" website for pedophiles that displays sexualized, but non-pornographic, images of children so his customers can relieve their sexual urges without breaking the law.
He was portrayed by Tom Noonan, who also portrayed Francis Dolarhyde in Manhunter, Cain in RoboCop 2, The Stewmaker in The Blacklist, John Lee Roche in The X-Files, and Jack the Ripper in Last Action Hero.
Biography[]
Berlin is a pedophile who is attracted to prepubescent girls. In addition to his day job as a medical supply salesman, he is the webmaster for Pediaphax, a "self-help" website for pedophiles that features sexually suggestive, but non-pornographic, images of children so his customers can relieve their urges without breaking the law. The website's tagline is "Look, but don't touch".
He claims to have never sexually abused a child, but nevertheless believes that pedophilia is a normal sexual orientation and that the law should change to permit adult-child sexual relationships.
In "Confession"[]
Teenager Eric Byers emails Berlin asking for guidance in managing his sexual attraction to prepubescent boys, especially his five-year-old stepbrother, Corey. Berlin supplies him with pictures of young boys and tells him that his sexual attraction to children is nothing to be ashamed of, but he also warns him that he will alert the police if any of his customers go beyond looking and actually molest children.
Detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit question Berlin about Byers, who had earlier asked them to put him in a sex offender program to stop him from molesting Corey. Berlin and Stabler take an immediate dislike to one another, and when Stabler insults him, Berlin gets back at him by posting a photograph of Stabler's daughter Elizabeth, which he found on her social media, on his website. Enraged, Stabler goes to Berlin's house and beats him up. Benson and Detective Fin Tutuola later find him trying to delete the picture while Berlin is on the ground, bleeding. They tell Berlin to delete the picture, which he begrudgingly does. He demands Stabler be arrested, but Benson and Tutuola ignore him, while SVU Captain Donald Cragen decides to give him the mild punishment of a day's suspension without pay.
When Eric posts on Pediaphax's social network that he had raped a little boy in a park, Berlin is angry that he broke the website's rules and goes to confront him. He finds Eric, who has been brutally beaten and sodomized by his stepfather, Sean Kelley, who believes he had abused Corey. Byers begs for help, but Berlin stabs him repeatedly before finally slitting his throat.
Benson finds Berlin's DNA at the crime scene and arrests him. Berlin confesses that he was angry that Eric had actually done something he could only fantasize about, while also lamenting that Eric's victim will never get the help he needs. Benson replies that the latter is his fault, as he had killed the only person who could identify the child. Berlin is then imprisoned for murdering Eric.
Trivia[]
- Berlin is loosely based upon Jack McClellan, a self-identified pedophile who in 2007 hosted a website featuring suggestive, but legal, pictures of little girls.
- The episode marks the second time that Tom Noonan portrayed a pedophile, the first being his portrayal of John Lee Roche in The X-Files.
External links[]
- Jake Berlin on the Law & Order Wiki
