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| “ | You can call me Infinity. | „ |
| ~ Patton as he is arrested |
Karl Patton is the secondary antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Dear Ben". He is a copycat rapist who imitates the crimes of the infamous "Infinity Rapist" in hopes of becoming just as infamous as his idol.
He was portrayed by John Raymond Barker.
Overview[]
Patton has been obsessed with the "Infinity Rapist", one of the most infamous serial rapists in the history of New York City, since he was a teenager. He obsessively studies Infinity's crimes to the last detail, contributes to several chatrooms dedicated to him, and even collects Infinity memorabilia sold on the dark web. He works as a computer programmer, but he is so frequently unemployed that he has to live with his sister, Mae, who dislikes him.
"Dear Ben"[]
On the 25th anniversary of Infinity's last known rape, Patton decides to "commemorate" the occasion by committing a copycat assault. He stalks a woman named April Baker, intent on raping her the same way that Infinity did his victims. In imitation of Infinity's modus operandi, he breaks into her house, where he ties her and her husband Gavin up and puts dinner plates on the latter's back and orders him to stay perfectly still, threatening to kill them both if he hears the plates rattle; he then forces him to watch while he rapes her. After he is finished, he spray-paints an infinity symbol on the wall, just as the real Infinity had and takes her hairbrush as a trophy.
The NYPD's Special Victims Unit investigates the rape, fearing that Infinity has come out of hiding after 25 years. Lieutenant Olivia Benson questions April, who says that her rapist ordered her to be quiet throughout the assault, which is not in keeping with Infinity's signature, kept out of the media, of forcing his victims to moan as if they were enjoying what he was doing to them. That detail, along with April's description of her rapist being in his 30s, makes Benson realize that he is not the real Infinity, who would be in his late 60s.
Patton, meanwhile, cannot resist showing off his crime, so he puts April's hairbrush up for auction on an Infinity fan site. Benson, along with Detectives Fin Tutuola, Amanda Rollins, and Dominic Carisi, Jr. trace the sale to a pawn shop owner who frequently trades Infinity memorabilia with Patton, and he identifies Patton as the one who sold him the brush. This gives the detectives enough evidence for an arrest warrant for Patton, and Tutuola and Carisi take him into custody. Patton surrenders enthusiastically, declaring, "You can call me Infinity".
During his interrogation, he takes credit for all 23 of Infinity's known rapes, even though the last known assault occurred in 1994, when he was a child. He is charged with April's rape, but he demanded to be charged with 23 assaults at his arraignment, even as his lawyer pleads not guilty on his behalf. He then gives a televised interview from his jail cell to journalist Claire Newbury, who has written several books about Infinity. When she says that the real Infinity Rapist is probably dead, an unfazed Patton replies that he is the "new Infinity" that the worlds needs.
Just as Patton hoped, he receives a great deal of media attention - so much so that the real Infinity Rapist, Edgar Noone, decides to begin his rape spree anew after lying dormant for 25 years because he cannot stand the idea of the public believing he is dead, or of someone else "taking the credit" for what he did. Noone rapes Newbury using his old M.O., tying up her husband and forcing him to watch while he rapes her, all the while threatening to kill her unless she pretends to enjoy it. He then spray paints an infinity symbol on the wall. Benson investigates her rape and realizes that the real Infinity Rapist committed it.
By the end of the episode, Benson and her detectives track down and arrest Noone, while Assistant District Attorney Peter Stone - whose late father, Ben, investigated the original Infinity rapes as Executive Assistant District Attorney of Manhattan County - sends him to prison for life. With the real Infinity identified, Patton is quickly forgotten, and he is given a long prison sentence for rape.
External links[]
- Karl Patton on the Law & Order Wiki
