He may be known as Detective Elliot Stabler to Law & Order fans, but Christopher Meloni‘s kids just know him as dad. Meloni, who shares two children with his wife Sherman Williams, made his debut as Detective Stabler in the Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in September 1999.

The show followed Stabler and his partner, Detective Olivia Benson, as they worked in the Special Victims Unit in a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department. Meloni starred on the series for 12 seasons until he left in May 2011. However, that wasn’t the last time Law & Order fans saw Detective Stabler. Meloni returned to the role in April 2021 in the Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime, which saw Stabler return to the police force only to learn how much the criminal justice system had changed in the past decade.

But back to his family: Meloni met Williams, a production designer, in 1989 when they were both working on the same TV show. However, it wasn’t until two years later that Meloni and Williams, who had a boyfriend at the time they met, started dating. The couple married in Malibu in 1995 after four years of dating. Then came babies: Meloni and Williams welcomed two children, a girl and a boy, in 2001 and 2004. Ahead is what to know about Christopher Meloni’s kids and family with his wife Sherman Williams.

Sophia Eva Pietra

Source: Instagram

Birthday: March 23, 2001

Sophia is Meloni and Williams’ only daughter and eldest child. Though Meloni and Williams try to keep their kids out of the spotlight, used to have an Instagram under the handle @http://thecollegeboardofficial, which she has since deleted. Meloni also brought Sophia as his guest to the 2021 Golden Globe awards. “I love my children beyond all reason,” Meloni told Your Tango in 2006. “They’re my joy, even when they’re wild with kid energy.” In an interview with People in 2014, Meloni joked about what it was like to see his daughter date. “This is how I plan on dealing with my daughter’s boyfriend. Shotgun,” he joked.

Dante Amadeo

Dante is Meloni an Williams’ youngest child and only son. In a 2014 interview with Advocate, Meloni opened up about why he’s raising his kids in an LGBTQ-inclusive household. In response to parents who claim that it’s “confusing” to talk to their kids about same-sex relationships, Meloni responded, “My son is 10 years old, and he gets it.” Meloni then discussed talking to his son about NFL player Michael Sam, who came out before he was drafted. “My son plays football,” he said. “I told him, ‘That’s a real man. That’s a guy with courage.'”

He continued, “I think that’s the kind of example … that’s going to push us forward. For more people to say, ‘I don’t want to carry this silly burden anymore, this silly secret, let’s move on. It’s not the focal point of who I am.’”

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Organized Crime air Thursdays at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on NBC. Stream the next day on Hulu or Peacock.

True Stories of Law & Order

Image: Courtesy of Berkley.

For more about Law & Order, check out True Stories of Law & Order: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Hit TV Show by Kevin Dwyer and Juré Fiorillo. The book covers 25 cases from Law & Order and its spinoffs’ most popular episodes, from how a woman’s repressed memory led to solving a 30-year-old cold case to the high-profile investigation of millionaire Robert Durst. Like Law & Order fans know, the crime is just the start and the real information can come from the trial and controversial verdicts. If you love Law & Order, you’ll be obsessed with these “true crimes that are oten stranger and more chilling than fiction.”

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