Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Law & Order: SVU "Nightmares in Drill City" | Sex Trafficked Teen or Sexy Teen?

Here's IMDb's description of Law & Order: SVU "Nightmares in Drill City" (Nov 11, 2021):

A fringe, possibly trafficked [Tori Warshofsky] 17-year-old leads her rap crew to a rival's hideout under the guise of a hookup text. Homicide gets involved, and her mere involvement vs. masterminding come to question.

And that's the question posed in this episode. Was Tori, an honor roll senior at Edward F. Murrow high school, "[...] a thrill seeking teen who set this whole tragedy in motion or a sex trafficking victim [...]"?

Before attempting to answer the question, let's take a look at Tori's background.

15-year-old Tori met and had sex with 19-year-old G. Of the age-gap affair, Tori shared with NYPD, "I wanted to please him [...] I let G have sex with me."  

Soon after having sex with G, Tori was, "[...] was stripping in a sleazy club in Queens and turning tricks in a room above it."

Tori even had a YOUNG prostitute advertisement posted online: 

FRESH YOUNG ALL-AMERICAN GIRL
Hey guys,
Sexy YOUNG girl at your service
Available at nigh to make your
dreams come true
100% Real Amazing Body
CASH ONLY

Of Tori's guilt or innocence, Jasmine, Tori's accomplice told NYPD, "She was looking for action [...] She got hooked [...] Drugs, sex, the videos. She was down for whatever - the wildest one."

Interestingly, Tutuola (Ice T) agreed with Jasmine's assessment, "We agree she got turned out (i.e., coerced by G). But once she got a taste for the life? [...] Anybody can go wrong." 

And Carisi, the prosecutor, appeared to agree with Jasmine and Tutuola. Carisi told Tori:

"You went to Poland on a two-week vacation and resumed our double life."

"You were never locked in a room. You took drugs. You received expensive gifts. And you partied with celebrity rappers. In fact, you never told anyone that you were being exploited until you were arrested for murder."

In the end, Tori's murder charge was reduced to robbery. Her punishment? 200 hours of community service, mandatory counseling, and ten years of probation.   

But after Benson gave Tori a warning about missing two counseling sessions (i.e., violation her probation), Tori shared, "I miss the excitement of the life (i.e., drugs, sex, the videos) sometimes."

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