This episode appears to be based on the Covenant House scandal of 1990, involving Bruce Ritter. In 1990, Bruce Ritter was forced to resign from Covenant House after widespread reports that he had engaged in sexual relations with several young boys in the care of the charity and that financial improprieties had occurred in the operations of the organization. At that time, it was one of the most widely publicized cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, which in subsequent years would be revealed to have been even more widespread. Ritter left the Franciscans, but he retained his priestly faculties. He retired to a small town in upstate New York.
Three of the guest stars of this episode appeared in medical TV shows. William H. Macy starred as Dr Morgenstern on ER (1994), Kate Burton starred in Grey's Anatomy (2005) as Ellis Grey and Judy Reyes played nurse Carla Espinoza on Scrubs (2001).
Kate Burton plays Sister Bettina in this episode. She goes on to play the role of Erica Gardner in four later episodes.
Mark Zimmerman has played five different characters over the course of the series:
- Episode 2.17 Sisters of Mercy (1992) - Polygraph Tester.
- Episode 3.17 Conduct Unbecoming (1993) - Mooren.
- Episode 6.18 Atonement (1996) - Frederick Scannel.
- Episode 8.02 Denial (1997) - Judge Nathan Murray.
- Episode 11.15 Swept Away - A Very Special Episode (2001) - Lawyer for Gavin.
- Episode 14.2 Bounty (2003) onwards - Judge Nathan Murphy.