  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | Now, honey, I think you're making a rather costly mistake. | „ |
| ~ Sidarsky threatening to disinherit his daughter if she testifies about his sexual abuse. |
Robert Sidarsky is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "A Single Life". He is a wealthy businessman and a pedophile who molested his two oldest daughters.
He was portrayed by Paul Hecht, who also portrayed Alex Merritt in the original Law & Order and voiced Emperor Palpatine in the radio dramatizations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Biography[]
Sidarsky is the wealthy CEO of Laurel Athletic Shoes in Bergen, New Jersey. He and his first wife had two daughters, Ellen and Susan, and he molested them both - first Ellen, then Susan when Ellen aged out of his prepubescent age preference. His wife either did not know about the abuse or knew and did nothing to stop it. When Ellen turned 16, she emancipated herself and got as far away from her family as she could, leaving Susan alone to suffer their father's abuse.
After Sidarsky's first wife died, he remarried and fathered another daughter. The girl was 10 years old, the same age Ellen and Susan had been when he molested them, by the time of the events of the episode.
"A Single Life"[]
When Susan dies in what appears to be a murder, Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit investigate her personal life, learning that she suffered from severe depression and that she had a history of sleeping with married men, including her boss and her psychiatrist. Benson and Stabler also discover that she had a great deal of money from a trust established for her by her father, Robert Sidarsky.
When Benson and Stabler inform Sidarsky of his daughter's death, he is at first distraught, believing they are talking about his youngest child. When they tell him that it was in fact Susan who died, he appears relieved, and writes her off as having been "lost" to him for years.
They then interview Ellen, whose cold, guarded reaction to her sister's death sounds alarm bells for Benson; she believes Ellen was molested as a child, having dealt with several adult victims of child sexual abuse who exhibited the same demeanor. Upon discovering that Susan's death was in fact a suicide, Benson theorizes that her depression stemmed from childhood sexual abuse. When they factor in Ellen's probable abuse history, they come to the conclusion that Sidarsky molested both his daughters.
Benson and Stabler consult with Assistant District Attorney Abbie Carmichael, who says that, while the statute of limitations has passed for the sexual abuse Sidarsky committed, he can still be prosecuted for it if they can prove that the abuse led to Susan's death. To prove that, they would need Ellen's testimony.
Benson confronts Ellen as she is about to leave New York City and persuades her to help the SVU team put her father in prison by telling her that he will eventually abuse his youngest daughter, if he hasn't already. They bring Sidarsky in for questioning, and Ellen angrily confronts him about what he did to her and Susan. Sidarsky at first claims that he doesn't know what she is talking about, then dismisses the abuse as something that "happened a long time ago", before finally threatening to take away her trust fund. Undaunted, Ellen says she doesn't care about the money, and reads him Susan's suicide note before bursting into tears. Sidarsky is then arrested and presumably imprisoned for abusing his daughters.
External links[]
- Robert Sidarsky on the Law & Order Wiki
