At the request of a victim, the police commissioner comes to Cragen with a special request -- close the five-year-old case of a serial rapist before the statute of limitations expires. The detectives finally get a lead but the investigation is hindered by one of the victims.

A Romanian immigrant is being held as a psychological prisoner by her abusive employer and his wife, who is also traumatized by years of abuse and is willing to commit murder to protect her husband. A forensic psychologist analyzes the team, and presents disturbing findings to Cragen, suggesting that one of the detectives be removed from the team.

The vicious sexual assault and brutal beating of an Afghan diplomat's daughter uncovers clues that may suggest Taliban traditions justify 'honor killings' when the child defies the wishes of their parents or their culture; the trail leads close to home.

The case of a seventeen-year-old rape victim during a gala for the opening of a luxury hotel takes a strange turn when her immediate family tries to keep the scandal quiet. Detectives soon discover that the girl isn't the innocent that she pretends to be. Benson struggles to deal with her mother's death and she learns about her past.

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 bizarre relationship with his overbearing mother and a strange sexual fetish called piquerism.

A series of brutal rapes and attacks on Asian women lead the police to a suspect who was himself a product of rape - his father being a rapist who was convicted. The question is brought to court of whether his genetic make-up was responsible for the crimes.

A mentally challenged girl with Down's Syndrome is pregnant, and the question is, was she raped or did she consent and is she competent enough to keep her child?

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.

A cancer patient, who was growing marijuana in her apartment and selling it, is found raped and murdered, sending the detectives on a hunt for two middle school students, each blaming the other.

After a young boy witnesses the brutal sexual assault and murder of his stepmother, he is too terrified to tell the detectives who attacked her.

A young, emaciated boy is found by neighbors scrounging for food; detectives suspect the boy is a victim of abuse and are reluctant to let him go home.

The death of a wealthy senior citizen leads to an investigation that uncovers a serial killer with childhood abandonment issues who targets the elderly.

Doug Waverly and Nick Pratt are charged with rape and murder in the disappearance of Canadian student Jennifer Durning after Nick's cousin, Jason King, claims that while he had consensual sex with her that night the other two raped her. A stray pubic hair leads Novak to Keith Willis, a drunk who was paid off by the boys to get Jennifer out of the hotel and who later saw the boys kidnap her, but Willis exactly fit to be a witness as his mind has gone after years of alcohol abuse. Jason King disappears. Although they are able to find a bug in Donnelly's office, they are not able to prove that it was placed there by Pratt or Waverly. Judge Donnelly is forced to dismiss the case against the two boys since there is no case without Jason's testimony.

Stabler is shocked when his daughter, Kathleen, becomes the suspect in an investigation to catch a trespasser. He seeks his estranged mother's help in dealing with his daughter's case.

A young woman's body is found stuffed inside a suitcase, and police believe that Mindy Keefe, the victim, was a train passenger on her way to Tampa when she was murdered. Detectives Benson and Stabler turn to Keefe's financier boyfriend, Owen Cassidy's yacht to investigate. However, Cassidy claims he was on his boat during the time of the murder. After further searching, the detectives discover Keefe belonged to an online dating website. But when the CEO of the dating website, Vance Shepard, refuses to comment on the case, the detectives turn to ADA Sonya Paxton for help.

DNA links Olivia to the murder of a biker in Central Park whose gang specialized in hits and prostitution. With Munch and Fin assigned to the investigation and evidence continuing to mount against Benson, Elliot begins his own inquiry – determined to prove her innocence and save her career.

After a man flashes customers at an electronics store, it is discovered that someone who matches his description has recently raped three young girls. Captain Donald Cragen orchestrates a movement to catch the rapist, and a rookie cop makes an arrest. Detectives Olivia Benson and Eliot Stabler confirm that they've found their man, but after ADA Jo Marlowe expresses some doubts, it is soon discovered that the so-called rookie may have some secrets of his own.

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.