In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

On a hot sunny day in Kansas, 1973, Mike Kinross's parents tell him he's going on holiday to his Uncle Dan's house. But instead they drop him off at the juvenile unit of the local mental institution.