Recently in "Law & Order," it has been answered if lying about one's identity in order to have sex can amount to rape. In the show's third episode of its eighteenth season, Olivia convinced a reluctant Barba to have a case prosecuted on the presumption that it does constitute rape.
TV Fanatic reports in its episode review that although the recent episode was entertaining and certainly dramatic, it was not very realistic. The story was premised with Laura Collete who had sex with someone who claimed to be a Dean of Admission so that her son can be guaranteed a spot in the freshman class of Hudson University. Later, however, she learned that the man she voluntarily had sex with was not who he claimed to be who he was and because of such, she went ahead and claimed that she had been raped.
Carisi and Rollins did not have a firm stand if it was rape while Barba said that nowhere in New York law does it provide that rape can be done through fraud, even the judge had some serious doubts. Despite all this, everyone pushed ahead anyway and resulted to what appeared as a huge problem, both in the prosecution's allegations and in the judge's reaction.
Something appears to be logically flawed in claiming that consensual sexual intercourse was not actually consensual because the man misrepresented himself to be someone which the woman would otherwise have sex with. Laura gave her full consent in having sex with Tom but later said that there actually was no consent because he was not really the Dean of Admissions.
According to TV Line, the defense in essence was saying that what the man did was actually a brilliant way of luring ladies and none of his acts were punishable by law. What the man did was like taking advantage of the Tax Code like most tax lawyers do so that clients would be able to legally avoid taxes through effective planning and strategy. The episode ends with what appears to be a senseless inclusion as it appears that Laura's son has committed suicide; it seems that this was merely injected to add drama and shock value.
