The investigation into the rape of a comatose woman leads to a doctor (Bruce Davison) whose stem cell research is funded by a billionaire (Philip Bosco) with Parkinson's disease who is desperate for a cure. The woman's parents (Henry Woronicz and JoBeth Williams) petition for custody of the child who was intended to be harvested for stem cells, while the defense argues that their experimentation on a patient who will probably never wake up serves the greater good.
When a fifteen-year-old girl (Rachael Bella) is saved from jumping in front of a train, the SVU is called in to help her. She falsely accuses an ex-boyfriend (Billy Lush) of raping her, but when the search turns to her dysfunctional family, surprise discoveries are made. From an overly helpful father (Titus Welliver), mysterious children and a bracelet that belonged to a murder victim, the detectives unravel a plot by the girl's parents to use children as surrogates.
When the decomposing body of a sexually molested five-year-old girl is discovered, Detectives Benson and Stabler's investigation leads them to the painful reality that they are searching for a serial pedophile as they race to save the life of his latest victim. As the mother of the missing girl frantically awaits news of her daughter's whereabouts, she must reconcile with the fact that her own recent bout with addiction may have played a part in her daughter's fate.
The body of a battered young boy found in a luggage compartment of an airport shuttle bus sends the detectives to his guardian who was discovered to be a pedophile only to find his corpse in bed with his genitals removed. The subsequent investigation leads them to a travel agency specializing in exotic trips for sexual predators. Stabler is disgusted when he discovers that the man responsible for the murder and castration (Michael Hayden) is himself a child molester who killed a member of his own organization for using more coercion.
When an elderly woman breaks into an apartment, the detectives discover she had been mistreated but have to investigate with no credible information from the victim because of Alzheimer's. They discover that she had been released from a nursing home to the custody of her financially scheming son who becomes the prime suspect. However, they go back to the nursing home to find a pair of suspects, including the director who details the dangers faced by both patients and staff with her own heroics precariously standing out.
The detectives respond to a brutal rape only to have the victim taken into custody by federal agents on racketeering charges. The investigation leads them to a father-son duo who are in the federal witness protection program and an agent who appears bound and determined to protect them, regardless of consequence, so they can testify against the Russian mob.
The detectives go on the trail of a recently paroled rapist responsible for the murder of a prostitute during a raid at a men's club and are called to the scene where he was shot in self defense by his own gun. However, the murder weapon was also used in another crime while he was still in prison, leading the detectives to investigate the victim through a trail of previously unsolved cases, a spending spree and another victim.
The wife of a retired attorney, a public-health doctor, is found murdered and raped in Central Park. Her work involved contacting sexual partners of HIV patients which gives the detectives a long list of suspects. The discovery of a second body in Central Park with the same signature shifts the focus to a serial killer; however, the trail leads to a man who has no knowledge of the crimes but has a distant connection to the doctor and her husband.
The investigation into the rape and impregnation of a young girl with Down's Syndrome uncovers a serial rapist who preys on handicapped young girls under the guise of being their benefactor.
A family portrait painted by a kindergartner leads the detectives to investigate her mother for child sexual abuse of her teenage stepson. When the boy's father is found murdered, the focus of the investigation shifts to the boy -- and his stepmother goes to great lengths to protect him and prevent the detectives from learning the truth.
When a heroin junkie is found raped, Tutuola takes an interest in Claire, but he's not the only one. When they find a finger in her purse, it opens a can of worms that spans back thirteen years, to when a teenaged Claire witnessed her mother beating her baby sister Lisa to death, and even further back, when Claire's grandmother, Rose, turned Grace in for the murder of her first-born son, Anthony, years before Claire was born.
The murder of a transsexual in a Catholic church, along with arson, results in the SVU team uncovering evidence of sexual abuse by priests. After a false allegation against a suspect briefly interrupts the investigation, Stabler must convince one priest to break the sanctity of Confession to prove that the reach of the abuse scandal goes much higher than the priests themselves.
Investigating the assault of the wife of a restaurateur during a robbery, leads the detectives to a similar assault, and to a locksmith.
In investigating the sexual assault of a 16-year-old, it's discovered that the victim is the rebellious stepdaughter of a judge.
The sexual assault of a cellist leads the detectives to a stalking case where the suspect uses surveillance equipment.
When A.D.A. Cabot is faced with a reluctant witness in a child molestation case, she goes above and beyond the normal scope of duty in her search for evidence to convict the serial abuser. But her passion supersedes her compliance with the law as she misrepresents herself to Benson and Stabler to bring them into an illegal search of the traumatized boy's home -- jeopardizing not only her case, but the careers of all involved. SVU Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly is faced with the frustrating task of bringing Cabot in line to preserve the integrity of the Special Victims Unit.
Stabler's wife tells him that her friend (a nurse) treated a young girl for rape by a teacher. Despite being advised not to find out further details, Stabler, with help from Benson, crack open the case to disturbing details. The girl had been part of a club in which sexual favors were given for drugs in a group of teenagers.
As an inmate gets closer and closer to his death penalty sentence, Stabler struggles to find out whether that man was the perpetrator of a different crime with an unidentified murderer. Dr. Huang assists Stabler but the investigation goes haywire to mixed results.
A deaf burglar leads to discovery of two bodies in a marina park: a male with a pacemaker, BAC of .17 and open trousers; and a violated headless and handless younger female who turns out to be an undercover officer whose duty included locating perpetrators of cruelty to animals.
A woman is found by her car, where she had been raped and killed. Benson and Tutuola try to figure out why there were drugs in the victim's trunk but then find that a similar rape was committed. This victim says that a police officer raped her after pulling her over for a supposed driving violation. The DA now has to zero in on the corrupt cop.
A pregnant woman (Tricia Paoluccio) is attacked and has her fetus ripped from her womb. Detectives Benson and Stabler quickly look for the baby hoping he's still alive. The woman's husband (John Ritter) seems shocked, but it is soon discovered she may have had an affair with a construction worker (Bobby Cannavale). The resulting trial has ADA Alex Cabot trying to argue that the fetus had a right to live without treading into the controversial territory of reproductive rights.
A six-year-old boy is abandoned by his mother (Elpidia Carrillo) in an emergency room after having been shot. Detectives Benson and Stabler look for his missing family members in order to find his shooter (Louie Leonardo) while Munch attempts to get through to the boy's ten-year-old brother (Jean-Luke Figueroa). Eventually, it becomes clear that the whole family is in danger.
A five-year-old girl is found viciously beaten to death in foster care. Detectives Benson and Stabler investigate her complicated family ties. They learn the girl's birth mother (Erika LaVonn) always tried to get back her daughter from the foster mother (Kathleen Wilhoite) and foster grandmother (Piper Laurie). They then investigate her introverted foster brother (Colin Fickes). Captain Cragen manages to reach out to him with the help of a video game.
A young wife's body is found after what seems to be an erotic asphyxiation accident. Detectives Benson and Stabler follow her link to a male stripper (Pete Starrett). He reveals their link was that he was recently gang raped by her and her two female lawyer friends, Amelia Chase (Diane Neal) and Pam Adler (Paige Turco) after the three women handcuffed him to a bed during a bachelorette party. ADA Cabot follows People v. Liberta (1984) and sues the women for this non statutory female on male rape. The investigation of one of the women, Pam Adler, then reveals the suicide was in fact a murder, as the victim planned to come clean and expose her fellow rapists.
The search for a serial rapist leads to a suspect who was himself a product of rape, and whose father was convicted of that crime. The young man's attorney blames his genetics as the reason for his actions.
A shooting outside of a gay bar leads the detectives to the victim's family, which includes a bitter feud with his parents, and his wife's involvement in pornographic movies.
When arriving party guests find a prominent doctor murdered and his wife raped, the investigation starts with his estranged son and a former patient, then moves to his mistress and her neighbor and the realization that the wife was the intended victim.
Stabler is teamed up with John 'Hawk' Hawkins to capture a serial rapist/murderer whom Hawk originally convicted years earlier. The more investigation done, the more unlikely it becomes that the convicted culprit was innnocent. Hawk is then at a crossroads about his life and his prestige as an officer.
When a baby is abducted from her mother (Kerri Green) in a grocery store, Detectives Benson and Stabler are led to Mark Sanford (Bruce Altman), a private adoption lawyer with dubious business practices. The investigation of the adoption service opens up a twelve-year-old case originally handled by Sgt. Max Greevey and Don Cragen involving the missing child (Ian Cronin) of a murdered woman. Captain Cragen teams up with Munch to solve the case.
When an HIV-positive male with a record of assaulting underage girls is discovered in a sexual clincher with a young woman on a rooftop, the detectives are determined to put him back inside. After a series of rapes and murders that cannot be traced to him, though, they begin to wonder if they've been looking the wrong way.
After therapy uncovers repressed memories of abuse and fearing her seven-year-old sister is currently being molested, an eighteen-year-old girl brings charges of rape against her father who winds up murdered when those charges are dismissed.
The detectives investigate three murders that seemingly have with no connection to each other, but each one has ties to Benson's previous cases and the detectives worry that Benson is the intended target.
Observed by an FBI psychiatrist, the detectives uncover a horrifying motive for the slaying of a software company employee by a fired colleague when they learn of the suspect's true relationship with his overbearing mother.
The team searches for a serial killer (Richard Thomas) who justifies his crimes with paranoid religious motivation set on by a rapidly deteriorating medical condition. Even though she knows that he has been driven to kill, his wife (Karen Allen) begs the prosecutors to show leniency because of his condition.
A Russian woman assumes her twin's identity when the sister is mistakenly killed in her stead.
The details of a kidnapping are similar to a series of rapes and murders that may link the crime to a serial killer.
The creator of an internet web site that assists runaways is taken hostage by a distraught father desperate to find his missing daughter.
The beating of a young man uncovers a dangerous male escort service where the boss may have reasons for sending her staff on potentially deadly dates.
The female cop who trained Benson is brutally assaulted during a routine patrol call. When SVU investigates, the woman is less than cooperative. Internal affairs gets involved and it quickly becomes apparent that there is nothing simple about the case.
he SVU detectives have 72 hours to save a little girl who has been taken by a serial killer. Their best leads lie in the memory of a young girl who previously escaped her captor. Unfortunately, the girl's traumatized mother refuses to allow the detectives to talk to her daughter as she wants to protect her from any further stress.
Stabler and Benson suspect parental neglect may have led to the tragic death of the son (Paul Tiesler) of two famous singers (Christine Andreas), leading them to fear for their little girl Ashley (Hayden Panettiere). Benson realizes that the career-obsessed parents are ignoring Ashley and that her desperate cries for attention have led to a pattern of physical injuries. When Benson pushes the case further, the parents' reaction puts her job in jeopardy.
Sex offenders, whose names and identities are public record due to Megan's Law, are the victims of a serial killer. SVU investigates and immediately assumes that one of the victims is carrying out some sort of vigilante justice.
A teen gymnast is found molested and murdered. The prime suspects are her overbearing coach and the male team booster with whom she was having an affair.
College girl Kelly D'Leah is raped during a frat party, but can't remember anything that happened. The detectives find that she had a date rape drug in her system, leaving the squad with many suspects and accomplices. They ultimately discover that the boy who had sex with Kelly (Zak Orth) was unaware that she had been drugged.
he truth behind the alleged rape of a woman by her police officer husband comes to light when a history ofis uncovered. Monique Jeffries leaves the squad and files a discrimination suit against the NYPD.
The case of a seventeen-year-old rape victim during the opening festivities of a luxury family friendly hotel takes a strange turn when her immediate family tries to keep the scandal quiet by preparing a lawsuit. Detectives soon realize that the girl isn't as innocent as she pretends to be, especially when an innocent manager gets caught up in her scheme. Benson struggles to deal with her mother's death.
In a story ripped from the headlines, a 7 year-old boy shoots his 6 year-old classmate. Aside from grappling with the political and emotional fallout of the event, the SVU detectives must also track down how the little boy got the gun in the first place. The trail leads to neighborhood drug dealers.
A woman is raped and murdered and a man is stabbed in a local store. The detectives investigate two of the mentally ill people she had recently befriended as well as the recently released ex-con/stabbing victim who pins the murder on one of the mentally ill. The SVU detectives learn it was the ex-con, but will Cabot be able to convince the mentally ill man, who witnessed the crime, to take his medication in order to be lucid while testifying against the convict?
A rape victim who was unable to identify her attacker becomes a vigilante bent on exacting the revenge on her tormentor that she was unable to achieve earlier.
An abused 7-year-old girl lies comatose while Benson and Stabler try to figure out which member of her dysfunctional family is responsible for her state.
Because of the results of their psychological evaluations, detectives Stabler and Jeffries are in danger of losing their jobs, and they will have to undergo further evaluation and submit formal explanations to an investigation commission.
The vicious assault of an Afghan diplomat's daughter uncovers clues that may suggest ancient traditions justify "honor killings" when a child goes against time-honored values.
The SVU detectives build a case against a pedophile who, for a decade, used the ruse of piano lessons to prey on young boys.
A young Romanian woman is being held as a sex slave by a truly warped man and his wife. THE SVU team races to find the woman once they learn her life may be in danger.
The SVU detectives search for a rapist who is able to attack his victims on crowded subways without any of the passengers taking note of his sexual assault.
The SVU detectives search for a rapist who is able to attack his victims on crowded subways without any of the passengers taking note of his sexual assault.
The daughter-in-law of a Pat Robertson-like conservative is found dead and presumably raped while visiting NY. Our team investigates and learns that a series of burglaries with a sexual component have occurred in a number of local hotels. The team eventually arrests the burglar, but are set back to square one once they learn the man has an alibi for the time of the murder.
When a young girl claims she was raped by a man she met on the internet, Benson and Stabler set out to bring the man to justice. Though the girl admits later she was lying, the detectives still pursue the man as they fear he is preying on other young girls online. They soon realize their task is a difficult one for the laws governing the internet have not kept pace with the ever-changing technology and are incredibly vague and ineffective.
When the bad girl daughter in a Kennedy-like family murders her one night stand, she turns to her mom for help. Her mother, the grand matriarch of the family, then turns to her trusted family advisor. He enlists his friends in the mob and they all conspire to cover up the murder.
The rape and murder of an elderly woman leads Benson and Stabler to two neighborhood delinquents who were known not to like the victim. Once caught, they confess to breaking in and robbing the woman, but not to raping her. The evidence trail leads back to the delivery person who discovered the body. Though the man seems suspicious at first, the real culprit turns out to be his partner. Though they think they have an easy collar, the detectives are stymied to learn their suspect may be mentally retarded and consequently, his lawyer may be able to use that to his advantage in his trial.
Benson and Stabler's investigation of a serial rape case is hampered when the one victim who could identify her attacker refuses to do so. Turns out the woman is a Quaker who belongs to the same church as her assailant. She feels the man has repented his past transgressions and has turned his life around. Consequently, she refuses to aid in the detective's quest to bring the man to justice.
While investigating the murder of a judge, Benson and Stabler learn the murder victim was extorting sex from desperate women wanting to get their convict husbands paroled. Also, Cassidy has second thoughts as to whether he wants to remain a member of SVU.
A young gay man is found dead and the evidence points to serial rapist recently paroled from prison. Once they investigate further, Benson and Stabler are surprised to find out that the convict's mild mannered brother is the real culprit. The detectives learn eventually, however, that the convict has a psychological hold over his brother and coerced him to commit the crime. Also, Benson searches for the identity of her rapist father.
The body of a prominent businessman is found in an extremely provocative position. This leads Stabler and Benson to talk with the man's many sexual partners. Eventually, they hit upon the victim's Russian "companion" who soaked him in recent months for over two million dollars in gifts. Though the evidence points to the materialistic Russian woman, it is later learned that the true killer is another of her suitors who has killed in a jealous rage.
A female corporate annalist known by her friends and co-workers as a "sexual explorer" is found murdered in her bed, leading Benson and Stabler to her con-artist boss. Though the boss denies any involvement, the SVU detectives put together evidence that suggests the woman was killed by the man during an "exploration" gone wrong.
A stirring episode that details a rape investigation from start to finish. While Benson and Stabler struggle to bring the rapist to justice, the victim struggles to put her life back together after the attack. The case strikes a chord with Benson as she knows first hand the emotional pain that results from rape.
The death of a young boy leads Benson and Stabler to a violent child molester, released back into the community after 20 years. The suspect's alibi comes through, and upon his discharge is murdered at the hands of the victim’s angry father; only later to discover the actual killers were the two teenage eye-witnesses.
An investigation into a woman's death leads Stabler and Benson to a deranged stalker. They learn the psychotic man has stalked numerous women in his quest to gain psychological and physical control over them. Once a woman defies this control, the man's pattern has been to viciously and violently lash out at her. When Benson shows no fear in her interrogation of the deranged killer, her colleagues fear that she may become his next intended target.
In a Lolita-like story, a middle-aged writer is found dead in a boarding house. Stabler and Benson investigate and learn the man may have been involved with his landlady's teenage daughter. Evidence eventually points to the landlady's boyfriend who has a criminal record. Ultimately, it is learned that the young girl is actually the murderer. She killed her lover in anger when he reneged on his promise to take her away with him on a trip around the world.
Benson and Stabler are plunged into the big money world of College Basketball when a young woman is murdered on a local college campus. All the clues seem to point to two star basketball recruits who have lead the team to the NCAA tournament and national acclaim. As the school closes ranks to protect its basketball franchise, Benson and Stabler must sort thru a labyrinth of sex, parties and the lives of pampered college athletes in search of the truth.
The savage murder of two underage models leads Benson and Stabler into the glamorous world of high fashion. Benson and Stabler’s investigation exposes the underbelly of the modeling world, where drugs, sex and humiliation are the norm. With the help of Lennie Briscoe and his new partner Ed Green, they follow the twisting trail of clues to a bitter ex-model whose career was cut tragically short by an sexual assault several years before. Bebe Neuwirth guest stars.
Benson and Stabler investigate what they assume to be the murder of a prostitute. Their assumptions change once they talk to the victim's middle class parents who assert definitively that their daughter was not a street walker. Further investigation uncovers that the woman may have been the victim of a serial killer. Ultimately they capture the serial murderer who turns out to be cop, but also finger the young woman's boyfriend who copied the killer's m.o. to cover his crime.
The detectives investigate the murder and sexual mutilation of a New York cab driver. At first the case seems to be a tragic example of mistaken identity, until the detectives learn the man was a Serb military leader who committed numerous rapes during the war.
A woman is found on top of parked car, the apparent victim of someone who pushed her out of a sixth floor window. Detectives learn the woman was having simultaneous affairs with both her shrink and a married national anchorman.
A hate crime against a Muslim family results in the death of their daughter. When a crucial witness in the case is deported, Barba (Raúl Esparza) is forced to drop the charges against a suspect, and tensions rise between communities on opposing sides of the case.
The unexpected release of a suspect in a hate crime case leaves Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Barba (Raúl Esparza) caught between two families seeking justice for their loved ones. As public protests escalate to violence, Benson goes to desperate lengths to make an arrest.
When a fire claims one of their own, there’s plenty of guilt and blame to go around. Lt. Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer), in charge of the Truck, tries to carry on, but clashes with the brash Lt. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) of the Rescue Squad – and each blames the other for their fallen team member. Adding to the turmoil, Casey, unbeknownst to his colleagues, is in the midst of a separation from Hallie (Teri Reeves, “Three Rivers”). The firehouse also includes: Battalion Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker), a fireman’s fireman who is confronted by important personal decisions; paramedics Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund) and Leslie Shay (Lauren German), who share a close bond and team together to face some of the most harrowing situations imaginable; Peter Mills (Charlie Barnett), an academy graduate who is the latest generation in a family of firefighters; and Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg), a seasoned veteran who loses his home to foreclosure and now must uproot his family to move in with his in-laws.