The detectives are 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. They uncover a more serious criminal in the process.

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.

The brutal rape, and subsequent death, of a female motorist turns out to be an undercover FBI informant acting as a cyber vigilante for catching online pedophiles to capture the predator trafficking internet porn. The detectives find the victim's husband murdered and follow the trail of evidence for the latest victim she had been tracking, which ​turns into an international case of teenage prostitution, with ties to the Czech Republic.

A man accused of raping several neighborhood women denies everything and represents himself in court.

Benson and Stabler have trouble identifying a male murder victim in his 20's found in a pile of sheets in the West Village; they later suspect an outspoken minister who was in the process of flooding the victim with hate mail and death threats. When the activist's alibi checks out, the detectives turn their attention to a professor who objects to the victim's thesis on the failure of sexual re-education groups.

The conviction of a group of sociopathic high school bullies who turned on one of their own escalates into even more violence and death in their exclusive private school.

A young girl is in a coma after ingesting detergent and her mother is suspected of poisoning her. A biased judge makes the case hard to prosecute which leads to an investigation into his past.

After arguing with Benson about their personal lives, Stabler enlists the help of a former cop turned psychiatrist in apprehending a serial rapist and murderer who attacks disabled women.

After the bones of a boy who disappeared in 1978 are found at a playground, Stabler, still visibly recovering from a recent gunshot wound, teams up with Vizcarrando to determine the boy's identity, which leads them to a cold case involving four missing Puerto Rican boys that were never found.

A manhunt ensues when Victor Paul Gitano, a recently released sex offender, kidnaps two children after killing the rest of their family. Benson and Stabler pursue Gitano only to find their own relationship challenged as both experience opportunities where they put their personal relationship ahead of their job. After having her throat slashed, Benson requests for a new partner when she hears what Stabler has to say about their relationship and their job.