While Benson and Stabler investigate the circumstances behind a foster child's disappearance, they discover that her overprotective parents are still struggling to cope with the disappearance of another daughter.
Detectives Benson and Stabler are called to the hospital after a 10-year-old girl is raped. They arrive to find her so traumatized that she cannot even tell them her name. With the help of Detectives Odafin Tutuola and John Munch, they are able to identify the young victim. But they soon realize that her home life is far from normal as Dr. George Huang discovers that her mother suffers from a rare condition that renders her unable to recognize that the young girl is, in fact, her daughter. When the detectives find themselves without a lead, Erik Weber, a man they met on their previous case, decides to get involved. But he may be overstepping his bounds.
Rape victim, Vicki, is brought into the hospital initially claiming she has been attacked multiple times by the same man. Detectives Benson and Stabler are determined to help her, but she lives in such terror that she then denies she has been raped at all and refuses to submit to a rape kit. As Benson looks for a way to help, she is horrified to learn that there are police precincts and evidence labs across the country that never test their rape kits at all. The investigation soon leads her to Los Angeles where she meets Detective Rex Winters, who has information that could finally help Vicki get justice.
When a 15-year-old girl is hit by a car and killed, Detectives Benson and Stabler are surprised when Dr. Melinda Warner rules it a homicide. She has found signs that the girl was being starved, and had even recently given birth. As the two look into the case with the help of Detective Odafin Tutuola and Dr. George Huang, they find that the girl had fallen victim to a human trafficking ring, and though some think it's a case for the FBI, the cops instead reach out to Assistant U.S. Attorney and friend Christine Danielson, who has moved up in the world since the detectives last saw her. Meanwhile, Captain Donald Cragen is frustrated by his crumbling precinct.
Detectives Benson and Stabler arrive on the scene where a woman is found dead in Bethesda Fountain. When her squeaky clean image doesn't match up with her promiscuous actions on the night of her murder, ADA Mikka Von encourages the cops to dig deeper into her past. When they find out that the woman was poisoned with toxic mushrooms, they suspect a crazed activist and professor is responsible. As the case develops, Benson and Stabler go to dangerous lengths to ensure that justice is served.
When detectives Benson and Stabler investigate a brutal attack on an unassuming, upstanding father, they find he's also been branded on his chest with a wire coat hanger. Before long, another victim turns up who has suffered the same injuries. Once they track down the suspect, some startling memories surface that completely change the course of the case.
After a young woman has been raped and murdered, her body turns up in an industrial laundry facility. Detectives Benson and Stabler soon find that she was involved in an environmental group called CLEAN, and it isn't long before they track down the prime suspect. However, the case soon puts them in the line of fire and exposes a much larger mystery that includes even more victims. As the investigation progresses, Detective Benson builds a connection to a victim's daughter that invokes her own past in ways she never anticipated.
Agent Dana Lewis is assaulted by a stranger and asks Detective Benson to have her rape kit tested. Before the cops can really help her, Lewis goes back undercover and refuses to talk about the assignment or the rape, for fear that she will be exposed and pulled off the case. She reluctantly allows Benson and Stabler to get involved in what looks like a protest against the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero, but they find themselves scrambling to put the pieces together of a much larger puzzle than they had anticipated.
Detective Stabler goes to his daughter Kathleen's university to discuss rape prevention at a Take Back the Night rally. When a girl from the crowd accuses another student of rape, Stabler and Detective Benson are assigned the case. What emerges are conflicting accounts and fiery accusations without substantial evidence to back them up. To complicate matters further, ADA Paxton returns to prosecute the case, and Kathleen oversteps her bounds, which could land her and her father in hot water.
With young Calvin in her care, Detective Benson continues the search for his drug-addict mother, Vivian, but Detective Stabler notices a strong bond forming between Benson and the boy. When Vivian's name comes up during a rape investigation, Captain Cragen assigns Detectives Fin and Munch to the case instead. However, it will take more than Cragen's orders to keep Benson away.
A young boy is found dead on a park carousel after being dropped off by his uncle Joe Gilbert. When Detectives Benson and Stabler learn that the boy was beaten to death they suspect that it could be the result of a bully at school. The investigation leads to an unsettling gambling ring. Detectives suspect that Gilbert's acquaintance, Joe Roberts is beating his wife Sandra and the case takes a horrifying turn. In response, a lawyer, Debbie Marsh, gets involved.
A young man finds that his girlfriend Larissa Welsh has been attacked in her apartment with evidence that points to her buried past. Detectives Benson and Stabler go in search of her attacker and discover that an elderly man, Orville Underwood, may have been involved in traumatic events of Welsh's past. For the detectives, solving the case comes down to who was in possession of the evidence.
Debbie Shields comes home to find her partner Ann Jackson being raped by a man wearing a haunting mask. Shields contacts Ann's father to notify him of her critical condition. As detectives Benson and Stabler interrogate Ann's father, Captain Jackson, his sordid past is revealed filled with sexual and alcohol addiction. Jackson's new role as a sex therapist is hindering the detectives from getting the information they need to solve the case and if Jackson won't comply, the detectives are going to have to get creative.
Detective Saliyah "Sunny" Qadri goes in search of Brooklyn District Attorney Page Ferguson, who she fears may be in danger. Qadri finds Ferguson just in time to witness her fall from the top of a parking garage. When Benson arrives, she discovers that the crime scene has been tampered with. Benson turns to an old friend, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson for help. As the investigation progresses, Benson begins to question Ferguson's suspicious past and Qadri's involvement in the case.
When it is discovered that a teenage girl is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to sexual abuse, all leads point to billionaire Jordan Kress. As Detectives Benson and Stabler continue to investigate, Kress involves his lawyer, Dwight Stanitch, who throws the whole case awry.
After the sexual assault of a young woman is videotaped and featured on a campus-wide intranet feed, detectives Elliot Stabler and Odafin "Fin" Tutola go in search of the victim and her attacker. As they delve into the investigation, it becomes clear that the perpetrator created a spectacle to draw attention to his own issues.
When Alicia Harding, host of the television series "Neighborhood Predator," begins to receive personal threats, her life-long pursuit to find her sister's abductor emerges. Detectives Olivia Benson and Odafin "Fin" Tutola are joined in the investigation by ADA Sonya Paxton, who may be too involved in the case. As Harding thinks she is getting close to the truth, another's life hangs in the balance.
When an art patron, Cindi, discovers a gruesome work of art, it leads gallery visitors to find a woman dead in her apartment above. Detectives Benson and Stabler look into the victim's personal contacts in search of suspects, including the victim's close friend Annette Cole. The detectives soon discover a work environment that leads them to question if bullying does go beyond the playground.
After Jerry Bullard is found stabbed in a parking garage, Detectives Benson and Stabler discover that the family man might have had an illicit hobby. When the detectives go undercover at a swingers club they meet a popular lady named Cassandra Davina and her jealous boyfriend, Doug Loveless. As tensions grow, the detectives question just how far jealousy can push someone.
When a young girl is found dead with a doll that is believed to have been left as a totem, detectives Benson and Stabler team up with Captain Jackson, a psychologist who assisted them with a recent case, to investigate her murder. Jackson joins the detectives as they retrace the girl's last steps and go to meet with her piano teacher June Frye. Jackson's skills prove to be invaluable in deciphering the meaning of the totem and ultimately finding her killer.
Jonah Dekker comes to NYC from Los Angeles to defend his cousin who has been accused of rape. Meanwhile, ADA Casey Novak returns to help detectives Benson and Stabler with the case. The detectives soon discover that the case goes much deeper than the current accusation and it raises the question: how far will someone go to get revenge for their family?
When an abandoned baby is found on playground, Detectives Benson and Stabler go in search of the child's caregiver. Upon meeting the nanny and her boyfriend, Ken Turner, they soon realize that he is also engaged to the baby's adoptive mother, Dede Aston. As the detectives dig deeper into Turner's malevolent past, they realize that the law may be on his side.
When a young woman finds a teenage boy asleep and naked in her bedroom, his mother, Bree Walsh, is quick to defend him. While Detective Benson and Detective Stabler try to figure out what truly happened, they also have to manage the sneaky teenager and his naive mother. As the detectives dig deeper, they discover how deceptive appearances can be.
When a woman is murdered during an afternoon shopping trip with her daughter, Detectives Benson and Stabler are called in because she was scheduled to testify in their high-profile rape case. As the detectives continue to investigate the correlation between the murder and their case, they discover unlikely friendships that will lead them to the truth.
