St. Fabiola's Sex Trafficking Ring (named for the purposes of this wiki) was an underage sex trafficking ring centered around the St. Fabiola's Academy, which is featured prominently in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Their crimes range from sex trafficking, prostitution, assault, rape, and murder.
Background
The ring was first started in 1996 by Frank Catalona when he ran the school with Patrick Mulregan as his protege. The two molested and raped a number of female students at St. Fabiola's Academy, and also held sex parties for influential people to do the same. To keep the girls quiet, they also took photos of the acts and threatened to show them to their parents if they ever told anyone about the sexual abuse. When Catalona was promoted to Bishop, he appointed Mulregan as the Monsignor in charge of the school and the sex parties. To this end, Mulregan blackmailed Father Eugene O'Hanigan to bring the girls to the parties by using his sexual relationship with another man as leverage. He also brought in Father Victor Akintola to kill anyone who got out of line. When Vice Detectives Tom Russo and Anton Jefferson eventually discovered the operation, they decided to join the ring as enforcers, covering the parties up from their superiors and other police precincts. They also participated in the parties, raping the girls as well. A nun working at St. Akintola's, named Sister Nina Kelly, eventually discovered the ring and started working in the parties to help get several of the girls out.
On SVU
The ring first came into SVU's crosshairs when SVU led a raid on one of their parties, acting on a tip from a nurse. As a result, many people, including Kelly, were taken into custody. Russo and Jefferson were able to convince SVU that they were working undercover and their Captain, Igor Gerbic, arrives to bail them out. When Jefferson and Russo are called into IAB, they lie, saying that BX9 hosted the parties, and that they are working UC to catch the players involved, but refuse to name a specific target. When Captain Ed Tucker, O'Hanigan's cousin, mentions that a girl named Cara Gutierrez is talking to the police, they send Akintola to kill her. He does so by injecting Gutierrez with a fatal amount of heroin and she overdoses. When interviewed, Akintola covers his tracks by saying she willingly injected the drugs into her system. When Tucker confronts O'Hanigan about revealing Cara's involvement, they decide to frame Tucker as the head of the ring. (SVU: "Manhattan Transfer")
They manufacture evidence through their clients in the Bronx DA's office to frame Tucker as the head of the ring. Akintola is later sent to silence Kelly and he tracks her down, runs her vehicle off the road, and forces her and another sex slave, Natalia Diaz, into his van. Akintola then drags them out into the woods, where he rapes and kills Kelly in front of Diaz to send a message. Akintola then injects Diaz with a fatal dose of heroin with the intention of killing her. Natalia survives, however, and Mulregan buys Akintola a ticket out of the country through another nun at the school. The priests start to close ranks and refuse to talk to the police. When the police discover why O'Hanigan is working for them, Catalona and Mulregan hold a press conference, where they frame O'Hanigan for everything. Eventually, Detective Carisi convinces O'Hanigan to reveal the location of the photos and indictments are drawn up for everyone involved. The detectives, sex slaves (past and present), nuns, and O’Hanigan testify in a grand jury and all of the members involved are arrested, except for Catalona. Tucker is cleared in the process and all of the clients are arrested, including judges, assemblymen, and councilmen. (SVU: "Unholiest Alliance")
Known Members
- Bishop Frank Catalona (leader; alive)
- Monsignor Patrick Mulregan (second-in-command; imprisoned)
- Father Victor Akintola (hitman; imprisoned)
- Father Eugene O'Hanigan (Tucker's cousin and unwilling accomplice; imprisoned)
- Detective Tom Russo (enforcer; imprisoned)
- Detective Anton Jefferson (enforcer; imprisoned)
Sex Slaves
- Deanna Walsh
- Danielle Backerly
- Natalia Diaz
- Margaret Kenswick
- Cara Gutierrez (deceased)
Known Clients
- New York City Judge George Wheeler
- Bronx ADA Joel Wynne
- Retired DA Investigator John Townshend
- State Councilman Robert Pearson
- State Assemblyman Brian Johnson
- State Assemblyman Marco Ramirez
- Unnamed State Assemblyman
- Unnamed judge
Known Victims
- 1996-2016: Repeatedly raped at least nine women and girls, including:
- Deanna Walsh
- Danielle Backerly
- Margaret Kenswick
- Cara Gutierrez (later overdosed on heroin supplied by Akintola on March 3, 2016)
- Natalia Diaz (later overdosed on heroin supplied by Akintola on March 5, 2016; survived)
- March 5, 2016: Sister Nina Kelly (raped and shot by Akintola)
Appearances
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1 season, 2 episodes):