Merchandise - Recap

A young teen runs desperately through a farmers market and out into
traffic, where she is hit by a car and killed instantly. Dr. Warner
calls in Stabler and Benson because the victim has markers of abuse and
malnutrition caused by starvation. She tells them that she's ruling it
a homicide because the girl was nearing death anyway.

Captain Cragen is unamused. Not only because his precinct is flooded but
because Stabler questioned Dr. Warner's ruling. Because the taxi
definitely killed her, the most they can go for is attempted murder. He
tells them to find out who starved the girl, and leave the charges up to
the DA's office. When they're checking the video footage, they notice
that she's not running alone. There is a boy behind her, and he appears
to be attempting escape as well. When she crashes into one of the carts,
they grab the assigned number and go question the vendors.

The woman says that 'those kids' are a menace. Mission Farms kids are at
risk kids that they get jobs for. Bob says Carly was a good kid. He
doesn't know her last name. His wife says that he gave Carley food and
she scarfed it down, then threw it all back up again. Bob says they are
generally only around on weekends. He doesn't know where the farm is
located, and tells them to talk to management.

Management says the farm is on Long Island, Suffolk County. They rented
a stall six months ago and paid in advance. Fin asks why they only hire
minors, and the manager refers him back to the farms. Fin details a
laundry list of how these kids are being taken advantage of, and asks if
he has a W-2 on Carly. The manager says yes, she's 15, her last name is
Holbart, and he'll give Fin her address. Nobody answers at that address,
so Fin tries the neighbor. She tells him they got evicted a year ago
after the mom died of cancer, and she doesn't know where they went.

When Cragen asks if they found the family, Liv fills him in on the
particulars. Apparently Patrick, the father, was drowning in hospital
debt after his wife passed. After the eviction, there was no more
information on the Holbart family. There was no missing persons filed on
Carley. Fin checked with Patrick's union rep. He hasn't paid his dues
for awhile, and he won't get any work til he does. Cragen pushes more.
Was he getting unemployment, social security? Liv says the benefits
stopped a long time ago. However, his registration is current on an Olds
station wagon, and she put out a BOLO on it. Fin takes a call and steps
aside, while Ell announces he's got the info on the other three kids.
Son Micah, 13 and two daughters; Savannah is 7 and Lizzie is 5. Child
services had them for a couple of months, until their dad invoked his
parental rights. They haven't been seen since.

The call Fin took was to let him know that the BOLO Olds was found
behind St. Sebastian's in an alley. When Liv and Elliott talk to
Patrick, he asks them not to take his children. They tell him this is
about Carley, and he asks if they found her, and is she okay. When Ell
tells him this is a better conversation to have in private, he tries to
hang on emotionally for the sake of the two younger daughters. He blames
himself for Carley's death. He's the dad, he was supposed to keep her safe.

He hadn't seen her or Micah for about a year, since they went to Mission
Farms out on Long Island. He said it was the only solution available to
him, as he couldn't afford to feed them himself. He said he was told
they were too young to work in the city, so they'd be working in the
country. Elliot asked who told him that, and he said it was the Latino
lady who came to pick them up, Magda Poloma. He defended himself against
Stabler's accusations. He had the woman's name, could describe her
perfectly, and even had her license plate written down. He talked to
Carley and Micah several times after they left, but then the phone was
disconnected. Elliot accused him of selling his children to a predator
for $500. He said there are predators in foster care as well, Lizzie got
her arm broken by another kid while CPS had her.

Liv asked if Carley told him she was pregnant. He said no, she's too
young. Liv finally tells him that his daughter was starved, beaten, and
sexually assaulted. He breaks down and cries, saying he sent them away
so they would be safe. Elliot shows him the picture of her lying dead on
the pavement and asks if that looks safe to him. As he pages through the
photos, he sees the boy chasing Carley and ID's him as Micah. Says
they're 14 months apart and they've always looked after each other.
There's no way he would leave her bleeding in the street unless he was
in trouble, like she was. He begs them to help him find Micah.

Cragen says Mission Farms is bogus. There's not a listing anywhere.
Stabler asks about the license plate that Holbart wrote down. The
vehicle was reported stolen a year ago, and never recovered. The cell
number was for a disposable phone. Elliot announces that Magda Poloma is
a ghost.

Cragen tells Stabler and Benson they need to let Holbart go. He's only
guilty of poor judgement. Liv wants to call CPS, and Cragen states that
being homeless is not a crime, and he's not separating this family for
anything less.

Fin got footage from a witness' cell phone which indicates a surprising
twist in the case. Micah pushed Carley into traffic. Stabler asks why he
would try to prevent his sister from escaping, and Liv says fear. He's
just as starved as Carley is. Fin opens a folder and says that Micah was
also sexually assaulted and sodomized. The kids weren't just working the
farms. They were working the streets. Liv makes the connection between
Carley giving birth and how much an infant would go for on the black
market. Elliot asks how a 13 year-old can be arrested for something he's
not legally old enough to consent to, and Fin says that's the first
thing he intends to ask the arresting officer.

She says the only way that kids can get out of being arrested is if they
are willing to testify against their pimp in open court. She asks what
he wants from her, and he says face time with the pimps - let's go. He
reams them all a cheerful earful, saying that no money will be made
until somebody leads him to Micah. One of the pimps steps up and tells
him he doesn't need to flex so hard. When Fin gets in his face, he tells
him that Micah is a drop-off, in a group stable. Whoever is in charge of
him keeps their distance. Fin tells him he wants Micah delivered to him,
unharmed, by this time tomorrow. The pimp says Jasmine will deliver him.

The pipes burst, and they're moving to the command center. The
contractor got indicted. The precinct needs to be vacated until it's
safe again. They all bring each other up to speed, and hope to have
Micah in custody and looking at an artist's sketch of Magda Poloma very
soon.

Liv picks up on Ell's tension. She tells him these aren't his kids, and
he can't save them all. He says he knows. And he'd settle for just
saving one. While they debate how to handle johns who frequent child
prostitutes, a call comes in on Stabler's cell. He says they're on their
way. Fin has Micah in his sights. Fin almost has Micah in the car, but
Ell and Liv approach, and he runs. Liv takes him down, his shirt torn in
the process. Stabler gets him up against the car, and repeatedly tells
Micah to calm down. When he gets a look at Micah's back, it is seriously
damaged. Micah is raging, and shows no sign of stopping any time soon.
He beats his head against the window until the glass begins to shatter.

They take him to Bellevue where he is placed under sedation. They tell
the doctor that Micah is a human trafficking victim. The doctor says the
marks on his back are from a belt buckle, or possibly even a bullwhip.
They talk to Micah, and he says they should have let him go, and now
they will get "them" killed. He won't talk, and once his guardian ad
litem shows up, he doesn't have to. Because he's a suspect in his
sister's murder, he cannot be questioned at all, and will not be able to
help them find the other kids.

Cragen, Liv and Ell brainstorm about how they can get close to Micah.
They decide to call Dr. Wong to do a psych eval, see what his mental
status was when he shoved his sister. Micah says the man in charge was
Liam. There were ten of them to begin with, and there are only four left
besides Micah. He knew that there were three babies born, and that
Carley's was a boy. Micah asked if they killed him, and Dr. Wong said he
did not know. Micah killed her to stop them from being beaten. He didn't
know she was going for help. Dr. Wong says he's recommending immunity
and witness protection. The GAL says no family court judge will do that,
but Dr. Wong says a federal judge will. Because they crossed state lines
and human trafficking was involved, this is a federal case. Elliot says
Micah's not going anywhere, and Dr. Wong isn't the only one with the
feds on speed dial.

Stabler and Benson meet with Christine Danielson. She swears them in and
gives them the badges to work outside their jurisdiction. Fin tells them
to keep their distance from Wong, he's not amused. Liv asks how Micah is
coming with the ID. When he has a severe reaction to a picture, the
guardian ad litem runs it to the window. It's Victoria Reyes. They think
she may be under witness protection. Chris threatens her into talking.
She says she got $1000 each when she sold them to Liam and Julie Ryan,
wannabe farmers. With more digging they discover that Ryans didn't only
have kid slaves, but illegals as well.

Ell faxes the Ryan photos over to Fin so he can do some more
investigating. He found out they lost their family home to foreclosure,
and moved to North carolina, then Florida. The last time the police got
called to check on them, five kids were lost due to cyanide koolaid
poisoning. Cragen got a current address on them, and Fin says he'll have
the local police meet them there. Stabler specifies no lights or sirens,
or they'll put these kids down as well. They play chicken with a red
pickup truck, and Stabler wins. He tells Liv he has this situation, she
needs to get to the farm.

Liv hears noises from the root cellar, and tells Chris they need the
EMTs their now. She goes down the outside stairs, and finds the children
chained up and vomiting. There's a 10-15 minute window for helping the
kids. The Ryans are going to be recommended for maximum security, life
without parole.

Holbart doesn't know how he's going to fix this, and Elliot gives him a
voucher for temporary housing so he can be there for Micah, until he can
get back on his feet.

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