Vincent M Spano born October 18 1962 is an American actor Spano was born in Brooklyn New York to Italian American parents In 1976 he made his stage debut in a production of The Shadow Box at Long Wharf Theatre and Broadway His film debut was in 1979s The Double McGuffin He has subsequently appeared in many Hollywood films including John Sayless Baby Its You and City of Hope Francis Ford Coppolas Rumble Fish Alive The Miracle of the Andes The Rats Over the Edge1979 and Creator In the 1983 family favorite The Black Stallion Returns he played a handsome young Arabic rider Raj that returns home from university to compete in a major horse race and befriends an American boy Alec Ramsey played by Kelly Reno along the way He also starred in the Italian film Good Morning Babylon written and directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani and the 1984 film Alphabet City He has costarred with Dylan and Cole Sprouse in A Modern Twain Story The Prince and the Pauper He was most recently seen on ION network opposite Lou Diamond Phillips in Lone Rider But mostly as his recurring role of FBI Agent Dean Porter on the NBC drama Law Order Special Victims Unit since the 8th season He starred in the 2004 TV film Landslide Buried Alive as a fireman trapped in a collapsed building with his son