The Female Villains Wiki
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Charlene Sturgess (Kate Goehring) is a villainess from "Couples", the penultimate episode of the thirteenth season of Law & Order (airdate May 21, 2003). Her slight backstory revealed that she had been struggling with fertility issues, with her recent doctor visit confirming that she was unable to have children.

The visit also resulted in Charlene meeting the eight months pregnant Hannah Mayer, and the revelation that she was barren drove the unstable Charlene to kidnap Hannah, intent on taking her baby for herself. Hannah was able to leave a message on a gas station bathroom mirror pleading for help, which included the license plate number for Charlene's car (a blue Chevy).

The message was stumbled across by detectives Lennie Briscoe and Ed Green while bringing Rafael Celaya into the station for questioning, leading them to begin investigating Hannah's kidnapping. While they were initially led to believe Hannah's adulterous husband, Simon, was involved in her disappearance, Briscoe ultimately was able to track Charlene's car down through the New Jersey DMV, allowing him and Green to arrive at Charlene's house with police. Upon being confronted by the officers, Charlene rushed them upstairs to where Hannah was going into labor, with Briscoe having Charlene assist him in helping deliver Hannah's baby.

Charlene was later brought in for interrogation, with Charlene adamantly stating her abduction of Hannah was not motivated by money. After gushing about the birth of Hannah's infant daughter and stating that Briscoe was a "hero" for helping deliver her, Charlene confessed to her reason for kidnapping Hannah, venting about her inability to have children and arguing that she never intended to hurt Hannah. Charlene went on to say that her only desire was to have children, callously claiming that Hannah could have other children when Green brought her up and stated that it wasn't fair that she couldn't have children of her own. Following her confession, Charlene presumably faced charges (off-screen) for abducting Hannah.

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