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| “ | What Corey and I have is special. It's more than love. | „ |
| ~ Thomas Banks rationalizing raping his stepson. |
Thomas Banks is the secondary antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Hardwired". He is a pedophile who sexually abuses his 10-year-old stepson Corey, and is a member of the pedophile rights group Our Special Love.
He was portrayed by Jim True-Frost, who also portrayed Jay Lippman in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Banks is a wealthy, successful cybersecurity technician; he is also a pedophile who preys on pre-pubescent boys. Three years prior to the events portrayed in the episode, he began volunteering at a homeless shelter for abused women as a way of finding single mothers who wanted a father figure for their sons. He began dating Eva Santiago, who was living in the shelter with her seven-year-old son Corey to get away from her abusive husband. Soon afterward, Banks married her and adopted Corey, whom he began molesting and raping almost immediately, eventually giving him chlamydia. He gave her prescription sleeping pills for her insomnia that kept her asleep for the entire night, giving him the chance to be alone with Corey; as an added benefit, the pills killed her sex drive, meaning that he would not have to touch her.
Corey remained silent about the abuse because he was afraid of going back to the shelter. He began acting out sexually at school, wrestling with other boys in a sexualized way as a means of imitating the abuse he suffered at Banks' hands.
Just before the events of the episode, Kevin O'Donnell, the head of the pedophile advocacy group Our Special Love, approached Banks with an offer to become a data manager for OSL. To prove he wasn't a cop, O'Donnell asked Banks to send him a video of himself raping Corey. Banks obliged, and O'Donnell arranged to meet up with him in the future to give him a flash drive with the names of every OSL member on it.
"Hardwired"[]
After Eva is arrested for punching the mother of one of the boys Corey "wrestled" with, Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit suspect that Corey is being molested. They send him to a doctor, who confirms that the boy has suffered long-term sexual abuse, and that his abuser has given him chlamydia. They at first suspect Corey's gym teacher, who served time for child molestation before changing his name, but they grow suspicious of Banks when he tries to prevent Stabler from asking Corey about the abuse. Stabler stakes out the Banks' apartment building, while Benson shares their suspicions with Eva. They go to Corey's school, where Corey tells Benson what Banks did to him.
Stabler arrests Banks at work, while exposing his crimes to his coworkers. Stabler also confiscates his laptop, where he has downloaded pictures and videos of himself raping Corey. Banks denies harming Corey, claiming that they have a "special relationship" that is "more than love". When Stabler threatens to put him in prison for the rest of his life, Banks tells him he is having dinner with O'Donnell that night and O'Donnell will give him a flash drive containing the names and email addresses of the group's members; he offers O'Donnell up to be arrested in return for a reduced sentence.
That night, Banks and Eva have an uncomfortable dinner with O'Donnell while Benson and Stabler watch them from next door, waiting for O'Donnell to incriminate himself. Banks gives O'Donnell the flash drive, giving Benson and Stabler enough proof to arrest O'Donnell. As the police lead Banks away, however, Eva loses her temper and stabs him in the shoulder with a kitchen knife, forcing Benson and Stabler to arrest her, as well.
After O'Donnell is sentenced to life in prison for multiple child rape and child pornography charges, Banks is sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of his deal with the District Attorney's office. Eva also proceeds to withdraw all the money from his bank account and use it to move with Corey to Florida for a fresh start.
External links[]
- Thomas Banks on the Law & Order Wiki
