List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit characters

The cast of the thirteenth season (2011–2012). From left to right: Dann Florek, Danny Pino, Mariska Hargitay, Kelli Giddish, Richard Belzer, and Ice-T.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a spin-off of the crime drama Law & Order, follows the detectives who work in the "Special Victims Unit" of the 16th District, New York City Police Department, a unit that focuses on crimes involving rape, sexual assault and child molestation, as well as any crime loosely connected with any of the three, such as domestic violence, kidnapping and child abandonment. Since its debut in September 1999, the series has generally shown four detectives working the unit, though at times, five, under the leadership of Captain Donald Cragen. The unit also has a prosecutor assigned from the DA's office, and frequently interacts with specific medical examiners and the unit's psychiatrist George Huang.

Three of the regular characters have appeared in three other NBC series: Captain Donald Cragen (Florek), who was on the first three seasons of Law & Order, Sergeant John Munch (Belzer), formerly a Baltimore detective on Homicide: Life on the Street. This character also made appearances on Law & Order, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Arrested Development, The Beat, The X-Files and the HBO series The Wire. Alexandra Cabot (March) was a lead character in the first and only season of Conviction where she had been promoted to Bureau Chief ADA.

Creation and conception

The characters of Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler were named for creator Dick Wolf's children. Wolf's third child, daughter Sarina, had a character named for her, Benson's mother was named Serena, as well as former ADA Serena Southerlyn on the original Law & Order and Det. Serena Stevens on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Main characters

Character	Portrayed by	Occupation	Season													No. of episodes
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Olivia Benson	Mariska Hargitay	Junior Detective/ Senior Detective	Main													~287
Nick Amaro	Danny Pino	Junior Detective													Main	14
Amanda Rollins	Kelli Giddish														Main	15
Elliot Stabler	Christopher Meloni	Senior Detective	Main													~272
John Munch	Richard Belzer	Senior Detective/ Sergeant	Main													228
Odafin Tutuola	Ice-T	Junior Detective/ Senior Detective		Main												~263
Chester Lake	Adam Beach	Junior Detective								Recurring	Main					20
Monique Jeffries	Michelle Hurd		Main	Recurring												25
Donald Cragen	Dann Florek	Captain	Main													~285
Dr. George Huang	B.D. Wong	Psychiatrist		Recurring		Main										140
Dr. Melinda Warner	Tamara Tunie	Medical Examiner		Recurring					Main						Recurring	204
Alexandra Cabot	Stephanie March	Assistant District Attorney		Main				Guest				Recurring	Main		Recurring	95
Casey Novak	Diane Neal						Main							Guest	Recurring	111
Kim Greylek	Michaela McManus											Main				13

Police

Olivia Benson

Main article: Olivia Benson

• Portrayed by Mariska Hargitay
• Episodes: "Payback" – present

Olivia Benson is a detective in the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes and abuse. She is primarily partnered with Elliot Stabler, until he retires after season 12. She is tough, empathetic, and completely dedicated to her job, to the point that she is seen as having no personal life. Her dedication sometimes wreaks havoc on her emotional state as she empathizes with victims of sexual assault, having been the child of rape and later the victim of sexual assault while undercover. She has allowed her compassion for victims of abuse to sometimes cloud her professional judgment and impede her ability to remain impartial. Hargitay has received both a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Benson.

John Munch

Main article: John Munch

• Portrayed by Richard Belzer
• Episodes: "Payback" – present

John Munch was a detective and now a Sergeant, in the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. A conspiracy theorist and dedicated detective, Munch is first partnered with Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters), whom he thinks of as a kind of younger brother, alternately poking fun at him and imparting (often questionable) advice on life and women. When Cassidy leaves the precinct in 2000, Munch is briefly partnered with Monique Jeffries (Michelle Hurd), and then with Odafin Tutuola (Ice-T). He and the gruff, uncompromising Tutuola get off to a rough start, but gradually came to like and respect each other.

The character was first created for the NBC police drama Homicide: Life on the Street, where he worked as a homicide detective with the Baltimore Police Department. The character was based on Jay Landsman, a central figure in David Simon's true crime book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, a documentary account of the homicide unit's operation over one year. After the series cancellation in 1999, the character was transferred to Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, having appeared within the original Law & Order in cross-over episodes. Within the series, it is eventually said he left Baltimore after his wife cheated on him with a friend. Munch has been the only fictional character played by a single actor to appear on eight different television shows: Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, The X-Files, Arrested Development, The Beat and The Wire.

Fin Tutuola

Main article: Fin Tutuola

• Portrayed by Ice-T
• Episodes: "Wrong is Right" – present

Odafin "Fin" Tutuola is a detective in the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. He was raised in Harlem and he served in the United States Army, where he saw combat in Mogadishu. A former undercover narcotics detective, Tutuola replaced Monique Jeffries after she left the squad in 2000. He transferred out of narcotics after his partner was shot. He initially has a rocky relationship with his colleagues in SVU, especially his partner John Munch and Olivia Benson. He sees the world in black and white, with all criminals equally deserving of prison regardless of extenuating circumstances. He also keeps a tight rein on his emotions, refusing to talk about his problems or to admit that the grisly nature of his work often affects him. He rarely talks about his personal life, not revealing he has a son to his fellow detectives until the sixth season. As the series progresses, he becomes closer with Munch and saves Benson from being raped. However, he also begins clashing more frequently with fellow detective Elliot Stabler. As of the Season 8 episode "Screwed", he is assigned Chester Lake as his new partner. After Lake kills a suspect, Stabler accuses Tutuola of tipping him off before he is taken into custody, and checks his phone records. Tutuola admits he called Lake, but says he did not expect him to run. Stabler quasi-apologizes for not trusting him, but Tutuola dismisses his apology because he believes Stabler will always be the same "bulldog". Afterwards, he requests a transfer from the squad, however the man in charge of transfers is a former colleague of Tutuola's who holds a grudge against him. Tutuola resolves himself to being "stuck" and his captain, Don Cragen, orders him to investigate a case with Stabler, who he calls a "headcase" and "cranky-balls". In more recent episodes, Tutuola has again warmed to Stabler. In 2009's "Solitary", when a suspect injures Stabler, Tutuola nearly throttles the suspect for attacking his "friend".

Donald Cragen

Main article: Donald Cragen

• Portrayed by Dann Florek
• Episodes: "Payback" – present

Donald Cragen is the Captain of the Special Victims Unit. A former homicide detective, he is portrayed as a somewhat stern but understanding father figure to the detectives who work under him and he gives them a great deal of leniency because he trusts their ability to get results, although he had an early habit of haranguing them about the weaknesses of their investigations. He was an alcoholic for much of his early career, but goes sober after pulling his service revolver on a taxi driver in a drunken rage. He has remained sober since, even after the death of his wife in a plane crash. Florek originally portrayed the character from 1990 to 1993 in the original Law & Order series. In that series, Cragen was investigated by internal affairs for corruption. During the investigation to prove his innocence, he discovered that he was being framed by his former captain and mentor, whom he turns in. He has maintained bitter relations with the police bureaucracy ever since. He is later transferred out of the Anti-Corruption Task Force before transferring to the newly formed Special Victims Unit.

Nick Amaro

• Portrayed by Danny Pino
• Episodes: "Personal Fouls" – present

Nicholas "Nick" Amaro is a New York detective who transferred to the Special Victims Unit from Warrants and Narcotics. He mentions that his wife, Maria (Laura Benanti), is doing overseas reporting in Iraq. Since Maria has been deployed in Iraq, she feels Nick often "interrogates" her. They're marriage is often shaky when Maria is overseas but Amaro still loves her as she does him. Amaro is fluent in Spanish, and has a living mother (Nancy Ticotin) and a 4-year-old girl named Zara (Alison Fernandez). Initially, Amaro didn't get along with his primary partner, Detective Benson, mostly because she was adjusting to him and Stabler's departure from the unit; eventually Benson and Amaro being to see eye-to-eye and get along well. While Rollins was used to flush out a suspect, Amaro risks losing a suspect after punching him repeatedly, as the suspect was attempting to rape Rollins. Amaro often gets into conflict with Rollins on cases but at the end of the day they are back on the same page. Amaro is a firm believer in divorce, and he tells Olivia that his parents had an abusive relationship where his father abused his mother before he walked out of their lives and moved to Miami, FL when he was young. Amaro does not have any sympathy for anyone who rapes children or the mentally disabled, and once had an urge to physically assault a suspect, but Benson told him a solution would be to ensure that the perpetrator(s) never see the light of day. Amaro says he was in Iraq shortly after 9/11 (meaning 2003) but whether this was just a lie to the suspect is unknown and that he just inserted himself where his wife was. Amaro has Benson's back when she talks down a disturbed kid named Eddie, whose father is in prison on rape charges. Beforehand he even had to have the kid removed from the squad room when he tried to get into an altercation with Benson and himself about his father being charged. Amaro shoots a suspect in a string of kidnappings to save Detective Benson and a kidnapped victim, the suspect died, making it Amaro's first kill shot.

Amanda Rollins

• Portrayed by Kelli Giddish
• Episodes: "Scorched Earth" – present

Amanda Rollins is a detective from Atlanta, Georgia and moves to New York City to join the Special Victims Unit, amazed at the work Detective Benson has done over the past few years. Rollins appears to be a detective who's very anxious to do her job, often being told not to get ahead of herself by Detectives Benson and Amaro, and Captain Cragen. She appears to have a good rapport with her primary partner, Detective Tutuola, compared to Tutuola's last new partner, Chester Lake. She often finds herself in conflict with her colleague, Detective Nick Amaro, or toying with him. Shortly after transferring, Rollins deals with a serial rapist who originated in Atlanta that began to victimize women the further he moved up the East Coast. Rollins does all she can to prove to Detectives Benson and Amaro that her rapist is in New York, almost falling victim to him in an attempt to flush him out; he took a preference to blonde and athletic women. Rollins has mentioned that she has a sister who has psychotic problems and abuses drugs, and that while she was still a detective in Atlanta, there was an accident that occurred that allowed for her to transfer to the SVU. During a sting operation, Rollins tells Fin that one way she acquired her shield was doing sleazy undercover work, such as going undercover as a prostitute. Rollins is very distraught over a case where an actress is raped by one of the men in her life; Rollins shows a strong distrust towards certain men. But Benson reassures Rollins and tells her that she trusted her partner. She also had had some problems with debt, which has caused some gambling problems. Cragen threatened to take her badge when he discovered her problem, but decided to help her instead, by having her go to Gamblers Anonymous meetings; Cragen knowing what it's like being addicted, his addiction was alcohol. Rollins tells Captain Cragen she skipped the Super Bowl and went to 3 G.A. meetings, all of them crowded.

Elliot Stabler

Main article: Elliot Stabler

• Portrayed by Christopher Meloni
• Episodes: "Payback" – "Smoked"

Elliot Stabler is a detective in Manhattan's 16th Precinct, also known as the Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. A former Marine and a dedicated detective, he has a 97 percent closure rate, but his dedication can turn to obsession and cause him to take cases personally. At the start of the series he is married with four children. He separates from his wife Kathy during the series, and she files for divorce, but they reconcile after she becomes pregnant with their fifth child. Elliot is Catholic, and his faith sometimes complicates the cases he works on. His partner is Olivia Benson, with whom he generally has a good working relationship, but it is not without tension and friction.

In the Season 13 premiere, Scorched Earth, it is revealed that Stabler has made the decision to retire from SVU.

Monique Jeffries

Main article: Monique Jeffries

• Portrayed by Michelle Hurd
• Episodes: "Payback" – "Runaway"

Monique Jeffries was a police detective with Manhattan's 16th Precinct, which investigates sex crimes, and one of the initial detectives in the SVU unit. Earlier in the series, she is partnered with various detectives, including Brian Cassidy. Initially, she is only seen at headquarters, doing research and showing up in court for various cases to represent the department. After Cassidy's departure near the end of the first season, she partners with Munch and begins going actively on investigations. Shortly after this, she is physically and emotionally shaken when a car explodes while she is pursuing a fleeing suspect. Survival of the incident leaves her feeling "restless", and she has a one night stand with a man she recognized as a suspect in a previous sexual assault case the unit had investigated. After she confesses this to a department psychiatrist, who is working for a commission investigating problems in various police units, she is taken off active duty and ordered to receive treatment. Captain Don Cragen, feeling she has become "reckless" and "a danger" to herself supports the decision. Finding desk duty intolerable, she cleans out her desk and leaves her gun and badge on the desk of Captain Cragen. In the second season, it is revealed that she was eventually reinstated and transferred to the Vice Unit.

Chester Lake

• Portrayed by Adam Beach
• Episodes: "Outsider", "Alternate" – "Cold"

Detective Chester Lake transferred to the Manhattan SVU from the Brooklyn Special Victims Unit at the end of the eighth season and was partnered with Detective Fin Tutuola. He is of Native American ancestry, specifically Mohawk, and speaks proudly of his ancestors. He also used to compete as an amateur mixed martial artist under the name "Naptime", but had to quit after tearing his ACL. In the final episode of the ninth season, Lake begins attending meetings of individuals in Philadelphia who share information on "cold" murder cases. He later shoots and kills a fellow police officer, who was suspected of raping two illegal immigrant girls ten years ago, killing one. Lake disappears while his fellow detectives investigate. They are able to prove Lake killed the other cop in self defense after he was shot at himself by a second NYPD officer with a history of brutality. Lake is found, wounded, and taken to the hospital. The second officer, however, is released after the jury deadlocks. The officer is killed the same night and Lake is found standing over the body and makes no denial to his fellow SVU detectives. He is arrested and last seen in the series sitting handcuffed in a police car. It was confirmed on April 18, 2008 that Beach would not be returning to the series to reprise the role in the subsequent season.

Brian Cassidy

• Portrayed by Dean Winters
• Episodes: "Payback" – "Disrobed"

Brian Cassidy was a detective in the SVU during the series' first season. The youngest and least experienced member of the precinct, he has a genuine desire to put rapists and child molesters in prison, but lacked the professional detachment necessary to deal with the often grisly sex crimes. He often has trouble concealing his anger and revulsion toward the cases he investigates and this created friction between him and his colleagues, made worse when they poke fun at his relative lack of sophistication. A genuinely talented and driven police detective, he makes a real effort to learn from the other members of the precinct, particularly Munch, whom he thinks of as a sort of older brother/mentor figure. He has a brief affair with Olivia Benson, and has trouble dealing with her after the relationship ends. Cassidy was written out of the show midway through the first season. Cragen sends him to interview a young girl who was repeatedly raped and brutalized, causing Cassidy to realize that he cannot emotionally handle the types of crimes that a SVU detective must deal with on a daily basis. Cragen then offers to assist Cassidy with a transfer to another department, narcotics.

Danielle Beck

• Portrayed by Connie Nielsen
• Episodes: "Clock" – "Cage"

Detective Danielle "Dani" Beck was Detective Olivia Benson's temporary replacement in season 8, while Benson was on an undercover assignment (Mariska Hargitay was on maternity leave). Dani had a husband, a cop named Mike Dooley, who was shot and killed in the line of duty. Off to a rocky start at first, she and Stabler eventually gained a mutual respect for one another. A turning point in their relationship occurred when they shared a passionate kiss after celebrating a case at a bar, although post-kiss nothing more than increased sexual chemistry was ever implied. Following a case involving child abuse in which a traumatized adopted girl, whom Beck had been caring for, attempted to burn down her apartment and kill them both, Beck said to Stabler she could not stand working in the Special Victims Unit anymore unless he asked her to stay. Stabler reluctantly said he could not make that decision for her, so Dani decided it would be best to return to her old post at the Warrants squad. Hargitay returned to her role as Benson in the following episode.

Medical experts

George Huang

Main article: George Huang (Law & Order)

• Portrayed by B.D. Wong
• Episodes: "Pique" – "Bombshell"

Dr. Huang is an FBI forensic psychiatrist and criminal profiler, specializing in studying sexual predators and their victims. Though he is liked and respected by the SVU detectives and they generally defer to his professional judgment, his diagnoses sometimes hinder prosecutions, particularly where he finds mental illness, making defendants either not fully responsible for their crimes, or not fit to stand trial. He frequently observes interrogations of suspects, advising detectives on how to best interact to obtain a confession. Very little is known about Huang's personal life, other than that he is gay, which he noted in "Hardwired", has a sister (noted in "Inheritance"), and that he speaks Cantonese and Mandarin.

Melinda Warner

Main article: Melinda Warner

• Portrayed by Tamara Tunie
• Episodes: "Noncompliance" – present

Dr. Warner is the NYC medical examiner. She served as a doctor in the U.S. Air Force during the Gulf War. She is married and has a teenaged daughter. Though originally a recurring character she more recently became a regular cast member, and was most prominently featured in the episodes "Blast" and "Harm", the former seeing her becoming directly involved, through a series of circumstances, in the efforts to rescue an eight-year-old kidnapping victim who has just been diagnosed with leukemia, and the latter seeing her testifying against another physician who is accused of helping the military to develop torture techniques. She is well liked by most of the SVU staff, though briefly goes against Stabler when he accuses her of botching a DNA test on Benson, expected to absolve her of a homicide (the DNA is later discovered to have been intentionally doctored to make Benson look guilty).

Emil Skoda

Main article: Emil Skoda (Law & Order)

• Portrayed by J.K. Simmons
• Episodes from: 2000–2001

Dr. Skoda is a psychiatrist who works with the New York Police Department. In addition to his own private practice, he often testifies for the prosecution as an expert witness on whether a defendant is legally sane to stand trial. He also profiles suspects and offers advice to the district attorneys regarding witnesses' and suspects' mental state.

Elizabeth Rodgers

Main article: Elizabeth Rodgers

• Portrayed by Leslie Hendrix
• Episodes: "Payback" – "Misleader"

Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers was a recurring character in the Law & Order franchise. She was the medical examiner on SVU throughout the first season and has since been replaced by Dr. Melinda Warner. She also had a recurring role on Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Rebecca Hendrix

• Portrayed by Mary Stuart Masterson
• Episodes: "Weak", "Contagious", "Identity", "Ripped", "Philadelphia"

Dr. Rebecca Hendrix is a former police officer who was at the police academy with Detective Benson. She left the force to become a psychiatrist. She appears for three episodes in the series' sixth season, to replace series regular B.D. Wong while he was performing in Broadway's Pacific Overtures. Within the series, it is said that Wong's character George Huang is on special assignment with the FBI back in Washington. Masterson reprises the role in the seventh season episode "Ripped" and in season eight's "Philadelphia". Mike Barry of Anton News stated that Masterson was "best known" for playing the role between 2004 and 2007.

ADAs

Alexandra Cabot

Main article: Alexandra Cabot

• Portrayed by Stephanie March
• Episodes: "Wrong is Right" – "Loss", "Ghost", "Lead" – "Selfish", "Liberties", "Hardwired" – "Witness", "Scorched Earth" – present

Cabot first appears in the SVU episode "Wrong Is Right", when she is hired to work with SVU as their permanent ADA. She survived an assassination attempt by a drug cartel's hitman and then entered the Witness Protection Program. She returned to testify against her assassin and she had returned to the DA's office in season 10. She also appeared in the short-lived Law & Order spinoff Conviction. Cabot was absent for the first four episodes of the 11th season to do some training in Albany in order to return to work with the SVU detectives by the fifth episode ("Hardwired") after EADA Sonya Paxton entered court-ordered alcohol rehab. She left SVU in the season 11 episode "Witness" to work for the International Criminal Court to seek justice for rape victims in the Congo. She later returned in "Scorched Earth".

Elizabeth Donnelly

Main article: Elizabeth Donnelly

• Portrayed by Judith Light
• Episodes: "Guilt" – "Persona"

Elizabeth Donnelly was SVU's Bureau Chief Executive Assistant District Attorney for 12 episodes from season 3 to 6 and season 10. In the District Attorney's office, she serves as the supervisor for Cabot, and her successor Casey Novak. Donnelly is elevated to judge in season 7. In the season 10 episode "Persona", Donnelly takes a leave of absence from her role as a judge and resumes her previous role as ADA, to prosecute a cold case she was involved with in 1974, when a battered woman (Brenda Blethyn) murdered her husband. She admits to Det. Olivia Benson that she was somewhat responsible for the woman absconding from custody and therefore took on the case due to "unfinished business." Her role in the escape leads to mishaps in the justice system being termed "doing a Donnelly" for many years to follow. This episode calls attention to the difficulty Donnelly experiences as a woman working in the justice system. But the revelation that the fugitive had been pregnant at the time of her crime leads Donnelly to what, for her, is an act of leniency. She leaves the office, yet again, and returns to the role of a judge.

Casey Novak

Main article: Casey Novak

• Portrayed by Diane Neal
• Episodes: "Serendipity" – "Cold", "Reparations", "Blood Brothers" – present

Casey Novak was SVUs Assistant District Attorney (Seasons 5–9), who replaced ADA Alex Cabot. Although she quickly loses her innocence when dealing with sex crimes, she still shows uneasiness when dealing with the gray areas of human involvement, preferring the letter of the law to the messiness of each individual reality. Nonetheless, Novak has a 71 percent success rate in the cases she prosecutes, whereas the average for prosecutors is 44 percent. After initial hesitation, she becomes particularly close to Stabler as they bond over being Catholic and a love for sports. It is revealed that in her final year of law school, Novak was engaged to a man (Charlie) who suffered from schizophrenia. She ended the relationship when his symptoms became so severe she felt she could no longer be intimate with him. In 2002, Charlie attacked her in her home during a psychotic episode. She convinced the police not to press charges, but ended the relationship. He eventually became homeless, and was found dead as a "John Doe" in the spring of 2007. She developed a deep compassion for the mentally ill afterward, but still feels guilty for not being able to help him. She states that she is a big supporter of the U.S military. She says that her father was an M60 Door Gunner on a Huey during the Vietnam War. His helicopter crashed three times and he received a Purple Heart. In her final year as the SVU ADA, she grew increasingly more reckless and unsure in her prosecution. It is implied that friend and former boss Liz Donnelly aided in her censure, leading to her replacement by Kim Greylek.

It is revealed that Novak was censured for three years, and re-hired by the DA's office. This is explained in SVU episode "Reparations", where she returns to SVU to prosecute a rape case, with Law & Order: LA Deputy District Attorney Jonah Dekker representing the defendant. Casey not only finds herself at odds with Dekker, but also Judge Petrovsky, who she had previously lied to in the season 9 finale ("Cold"), which ultimately led to her censure.

Kim Greylek

• Portrayed by Michaela McManus
• Episodes: "Trials" – "Lead"

Kim Greylek was the SVU's Assistant District Attorney who replaced Casey Novak at the beginning of Season 10. Greylek previously worked in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women in Washington, D.C. where she had the nickname of "The Crusader." A dogged prosecutor, she pushed the detectives to make cases for the sake of politics in favor of pursuing actual offenders. She can be unrelenting, threatening to charge a defendant with a hate crime for raping two women and of having a teenage boy charged with assaulting a police officer so he can be tested for HIV. In "Babes", Greylek also angers a woman believed to be involved with a young girls suicide, but she was found not guilty; after gloating about her "innocence", the woman strangles Greylek for correcting her about being "innocent" and to wash the blood off her hands before holding her daughter's baby. Greylek told Stabler to charge her with assault.

But Greylek also has a softer side, she warns Stabler to get a good defense attorney after his daughter Kathleen (who was dealing with biploar disorder issues) is charged with breaking and entering and theft, because her office could have prosecuted his daughter. Greylek rushes to get justice for three women who were drugged and unknowingly to them raped by a man obsessed with pornography in "Smut". Greylek seeks justice when a man is brutally beaten outside a strip club, the man's ex-wife and 13-year-old transgender daughter Hailey, the prime suspects. But Hailey's guidance counselor committed the crime instead.

After appearing in only 14 episodes, the character was written out of the series in the episode "Lead"; in the middle of a trial where Pediatrician Gilbert Keppler (Lawrence Arancio) is found guilty of sexually assaulting four of his male patients. Greylek left the unit to return to Washington, she was replaced by former unit ADA, Alexandra Cabot.

Sonya Paxton

Main article: Sonya Paxton

• Portrayed by Christine Lahti
• Episodes: "Unstable" – "Hammered", "Turmoil", "Gray", "Pursuit"

Sonya Paxton was SVUs Executive ADA who temporarily replaced Alexandra Cabot for four episodes in the 11th season, starting with the season premiere ("Unstable"). Working in the Appeals bureau, she was the first to get a Capital Conviction in New York when the then newly-elected Governor Pataki brought back the death penalty in 1995. Paxton was sent down by Jack McCoy to 'clean the house' in the 'he-said, she-said unit' due to too many convictions being overturned. However, things started out rocky as she butts heads with the SVU team, particularly Detective Stabler. In the second episode of Season 11 ("Sugar") she and he get into a heated argument after Paxton calls the suspect's lawyer after he declines his right to counsel twice. In the fourth episode of the season ("Hammered"), when a man drinks heavily and goes home and murders a woman he met at a bar, the defense blames alcoholism for the murder during the trial. Intending to use a computer-generated video mockup of the crime, Paxton accidentally plays a version in which the defendant's face is superimposed onto the attacker. The following morning, she arrives 45 minutes late to a mistrial hearing, appearing distraught and blaming a "fender bender". Judge Moredock asked if she would need medical help, but the defendant pointed out that she was drunk. Judge Moredock ordered Benson to come with a breathalyzer, which revealed her blood alcohol level was .082, resulting in a mistrial. The Judge ordered Paxton to seek treatment, prompting her temporary departure. At the end of "Hammered" she returns to the SVU squad and apologizes to the team, stating that she intends on making amends to each and every one of them.

She later appears in the episode "Turmoil", meeting Cabot outside the courtroom and telling her to watch out for Benson and Stabler, because they are only loyal to each other.

Sonya returned from her alcohol rehabilitation and served as an Executive ADA in the ninth episode ("Gray") of the 12th season to prove to the DA that she hadn't lost her 'winning ways'. In the seventeenth episode ("Pursuit"), she returns again to help out an old friend Alicia Harding who starts receiving personal threats. Paxton was murdered during the episode while investigating the identity of the stalker. While he was attacking her, she was able to obtain his DNA by biting him - which ultimately helped solve the case.

Jo Marlowe

• Portrayed by Sharon Stone
• Episodes: "Torch" – "Shattered"

Jo Marlowe is drafted by Jack McCoy in the season 11 episode "Torch" after ADA Alexandra Cabot leaves to help rape victims in the Congo ("Witness"). A former lieutenant, Marlowe had been Elliot Stabler's partner approximately four years before Benson. SVUs Executive Producer Neal Baer describes her character as “a funny adrenaline junkie who loves to be in the middle of everything and shares a past with Stabler. She’s been married before and has a lot of secrets.” In the episode "Shattered", she reveals that she was diagnosed with an "aggressive" type of cancer and had a bilateral radical mastectomy a year before joining the SVU squad.

Sherri West

• Portrayed by Francie Swift
• Episodes: "Bullseye", "Behave", "Delinquent", "Smoked", and "Double Strands"

Sherri West is brought in as a temporary replacement for Jo Marlowe (Sharon Stone), West is the prosecutor on a case where a pedophile hiding in plain sight is believed to have started going after young girls again. The suspect is brutally beaten in the Special Victims Unit holding cell by an officer in the squad; the officer belonging to the local group, COAP - a citizen’s neighborhood watch group, Citizens Organized Against Predators - he was alerted by "Creep Tweets" which sparked vigilante violence against the attacker. West assures the judge that violence against the defendant won't occur again.

In "Behave" when Detective Benson goes to the ends of the Earth for a rape victim named Vicki Sayers (Jennifer Love Hewitt) to ensure that Bill Harris (James Le Gros), her rapist, is put away; West tells Benson there wasn't enough evidence to arrest him for the current rape and the statute of limitations had ran out on the 1998 rape; Vicki traveled over the United States from the early 1990s, her rapist following her. Benson says they have the DNA from his other victims, and West thinks she may be able to get those rapes in as prior uncharged crimes, and tells Benson that she thinks Benson has some calls to make. Benson goes all over the U.S. to places Vicki has lives to find DNA evidence that wasn't lost or degraded. Benson manages to get evidence out of Los Angeles with the help of LAPD Detective Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich), but at an evidentiary hearing, ADA West presents the evidence found, videos. Vicki Sayers confirmed it was her seen in his videos but Judge Donnelly (Judith Light) dismissed the case without prejudice due to DNA degration and the chain of custody wasn't preserved, Donnelly says the people can represent if they get better evidence.

Benson finds an evidence bag with duct tape in it, Vicki's police report was lost but the evidence was found with duct tape collected from her first rape, matching. Benson and Stabler arrest Harris on kidnapping in the first degree since there is no statue of limitations on kidnapping.

In "Delinquent", Hunter Mazelon (Sterling Beaumon) is found naked and asleep in a young woman's bed. West tells Cragen and the detectives that she can’t charge Hunter with a sex crime but he is charged with burglary 1 and criminal trespass 2, criminal possession of a weapon 4, possession of burglar’s tools, and possession of alcohol by a person under the age of 21. When he says during his trial hearing, that Detective Stabler molested him after handcuffing him. West's case is in a shambles with the accusations made by Mazelon and the fact that there was no actual victim; West manages to get Mazelon to allocute, - which he did falsely - but Stabler wished for West to call for a recess. Detectives Tutuola and Stabler were commenting about how they have been burning through ADAs and maybe West cut the deal to cover Stabler and maybe she just wanted them to like her; although West denies doing it for Stabler, but to see Mazelon punished. After his allocution, he got 3 years, suspended, but any further violation results in mandatory detention, plus 50 hours community service, alcohol treatment classes, and enrollment in a sex offender therapy program.

Mazelon further deteriorates and it's uncovered that he committed rapes to other women in other states and it's uncovered by his mother (Rita Wilson) that her son was molested by the babysitter.

In "Smoked", a rape victim was murdered days before her trial was set to start. West pushing Detectives Benson and Stabler to find the victim's murderer; a murder orchestrated by the rapist, a friend, and a greedy ATF Agent. West not managing to convict anyone because they were brutally killed by the victim's daughter in the SVU squad room, shortly before Detective Stabler killed her. By the episode "Double Strands", West began working as a defense attorney instead, they offered her a better deal.

Gillian Hardwicke

• Portrayed by Melissa Sagemiller
• Episodes: "Branded" – "Bombshell"

Replacement for Mikka Von (Paula Patton), she premieres mid-season. Gillian "Gill" Hardwicke is a Brooklyn ADA who transfers to Manhattan SVU due to her great admiration for detectives Benson and Stabler. She has a 92% conviction rate (SVU: "Branded"). She often gets into conflict over cases with Detectives Benson and Stabler; with Benson over a case where a woman was raped as a little girl and she began seeking revenge on her attackers, branding them with hot clothes hangers. She and Benson also clash when Vivian Arliss (Maria Bello) - who gave custody of her son Calvin (Charlie Tahan) to Olivia - is a suspect in a string of burglaries. Hardwicke and Stabler get into conflict over a case where presumably, a boy named Nicky Roberts, shot and killed his abusive stepfather; the case eventually dropped because both Nicky and his mother admit to killing him, evidence not proving one or the other.

In "Penetration", Hardwicke convicts a man who raped FBI Agent Dana Lewis while she was undercover, at the request of Brian Ackerman (J. C. MacKenzie), who was angry at Lewis/Star Morrison for killing his son Kyle in the episode "Raw". In "Bombshell" (Sagemiller's last on-screen episode), Hardwicke tried to convict two twin-siblings Cassandra (Rose McGowan) and Doug (Ryan Hurst) - who are actually in a sexual relationship - that had involvement in a man's brutal stabbing along with fraud crimes in New York and Miami; but they are released on bail due to lack of evidence, Doug is murdered by a man in love with Cassandra. In "Reparations", Detective Tutuola mentions that Hardwicke is at a convention in Miami, it is unknown if she ever returned to New York.

Melissa Sagemiller had previously been on SVU in season one episode "Russian Love Poem", where Sagemiller played a victim. Sagemiller said about her character's personality; is front and center. "She's tough... she has a heart, she just gets what she wants." Sagemiller also added, "She sticks to the letter of the law, sometimes to a fault, but in the end I think she always does the right thing". ADA Hardwicke was supposed to have a connection with Detective Benson, but Hardwicke's background was never revealed.

Michael Cutter

Main article: Michael Cutter

• Portrayed by Linus Roache
• Episodes: "Scorched Earth", "True Believers", "Lost Traveller", "Father's Shadow"

Executive ADA Michael Cutter (Law & Order) has been promoted to Bureau Chief Executive ADA and transferred to the Special Victims Unit where he is supervising the ADAs assigned to the precinct. Show runner Warren Leight stated, "If Cutter was a bit of a hot head in the past, the passage of time and some added responsibility in his new job has made him more mature, and perhaps a bit more jaded." Roache had to say, "I learned a lot from my time on Law & Order and it's going to be interesting to experiment with Cutter's development in this new context — I think Special Victims is going to be an area where Cutter's passion for justice can really come forth". The season 13 premiere episode, "Scorched Earth" was Cutter's first appearance on SVU.

In "True Believers", Cutter is lead prosecutor in a case where a college music student (Sofia Vassilieva) is raped at gunpoint by a drug dealer. Cutter fails to get a guilty verdict on the case; Detectives Fin and Rollins had a faulty identification by the victim by frisking three identical suspects, Detectives Benson and Amaro are not on the same page when Amaro sees the suspect sling a gun under his sofa while he and Benson attempt to arrest him in his home, the victim's credibility being questioned because she had a one night stand with her music instructor, and Defense Attorney Beyard Ellis (Andre Braugher) seeking a "race card" defense. In "Lost Traveller", a Romani boy disappears on his way home from school, Cutter is brought in when a suspect refuses to give any information on the boy's disappearance without a deal.

Cutter is lead prosecutor again when a reality show producer named Fred Sandow (Michael McKean) is accused of raping young first-time actresses. Evidence and a friend of Sandow puts Sandow behind bars but his son Eddie (Cameron Monaghan) takes her and her daughter Lily hostage, initially only agreeing to let them go if the charges against his father were drop. Cutter did not drop the charges leaving Detective Benson to talk the young man down.

David Haden

• Portrayed by Harry Connick Jr.
• Episodes: "Official Story" – present

Executive Assistant District Attorney David Haden joins the show in season 13, with a four-episode arc. Haden is a dedicated, straight-shooting prosecutor who is assigned a case with Detective Benson. Although Benson is at first wary of Haden, they are both surprised to find they work well together. As the case develops, so does their relationship. Connick's first episode was "Official Story", "This is a home run on so many levels," said Mariska Hargitay. "The show is very fortunate to have Harry's extraordinary talent, and I'm lucky because I get to work with my friend. I think Olivia couldn't have asked for a better companion to take her through a new stage in her life and career."

David Haden is brought in by the new district attorney when a powerful CEO of a private military contractor is confronted by Occupy Wall Street protesters and later found drugged and sexually assaulted in a park; there is more to the case than meets the eye, a much larger crime and conspiracy in Iraq is unveiled, a rape occurring and the rape kit being kept hidden. Haden and the SVU detectives are threatened by the CEO (portrayed by John Doman), but Haden dismisses the threat, telling Detective Benson, "This is what I live for." Haden also has two daughters of his own. Haden offers to take Olivia to dinner but she respectfully declines, citing she was still on duty and joking there would be a possible conflict of interest. Haden understands why Olivia declined dinner, he tells her not to hold off on going to Paris too long (earlier she told him she'd never been). Haden takes a distraught Olivia away from a crime scene, she had been in a hostage situation the entire day.

Recurring characters

Other police officers outside of SVU

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps
Technician Ruben Morales	Joel de la Fuente	2002–present	52
Officer Ramirez	Donnetta Lavinia Grays	2003–2007	7
Officer Robbins	William H. Burns	2002–2006	6
Chief of Detectives Muldrew	John Schuck	2004–2010	8

Crime Scene Unit Technicians

Full title: New York City Police Department Crime Scene Unit Forensic Technician Officers

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps
Georgie	Welly Yang	1999–2003	13
Captain Judith Siper	Caren Browning	1999–present	42
Harry Martin	Lou Carbonneau	2000–2002	12
David Layton	Jordan Gelber	2002–2003	8
Burt Trevor	Daniel Sunjata	2002–2004	15
Ryan O'Halloran	Mike Doyle	2003–2009	52
Millie Vizcarrondo	Paula Garcés	2005	4
Dale Stuckey	Noel Fisher	2009	4
Adrienne ‘Andy’ Sung	James Chen	2011–present	4

Assistant US Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps
AUSA Claudia Williams	Pam Grier	2002–2003	2
AUSA Raul Menedez	Robert Montano	2005	1
AUSA Marion Springer	Jayne Atkinson	2007	1
AUSA Christine Danielson	Gloria Reuben	2010–2011	2
AUSA Camilla Velez	Valerie Cruz	2010	1

Manhattan District Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
DA Adam Schiff	Steven Hill	2000	1	Crossing over from Law & Order
DA Nora Lewin	Dianne Wiest	2000–2002	2	Crossing over from Law & Order
DA Arthur Branch	Fred Dalton Thompson	2003–2006	11	Crossing over from Law & Order
DA Jack McCoy	Sam Waterston	2007–2010	2	Crossing over from Law & Order

Chief Assistant District Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
CADA Charlie Phillips	Jeffrey DeMunn	2000–2001	2

Bureau Chief Assistant District Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
BC-ADA Elizabeth Donnelly	Judith Light	2002–2004, 2008	12	Later Judge Elizabeth Donnelly
BC-ADA Tracey Kibre	Bebe Neuwirth	2005	1	Crossing over from Law & Order: Trial By Jury
BC-ADA Christine Danielson	Gloria Reuben	2007	1	Later AUSA Christine Danielson
BC-ADA Michael Cutter	Linus Roache	2011–present	4	Crossing over from Law & Order

Executive Assistant District Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
EADA Jack McCoy	Sam Waterston	2000	1	Crossing over from Law & Order; later DA Jack McCoy
EADA Stan Villani	Ron Leibman	2001	4
EADA -	Ben Gazzara	2001	1
EADA Lydia Ramos	Priscilla Lopez	2008	1
EADA Sonya Paxton	Christine Lahti	2009–2011	7
EADA Garrett Blaine	Teddy Sears	2010	1
EADA David Haden	Harry Connick Jr	2012	3

Assistant District Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
ADA Abbie Carmichael	Angie Harmon	1999–2000	6	Crossing over from Law & Order
ADA Erica Alden	Reiko Aylesworth	2000	3
ADA Kathleen Eastman	Jenna Stern	2000	2
ADA Mark	John Benjamin Hickey	2000	2
ADA David Goreman	Liam Craig	2001	1
ADA Bettina Amador	Marisol Nichols	2003	1
ADA Alexandra Cabot	Stephanie March	2005–2009, 2011–present	13	Regular character from seasons 2–5, 11
ADA Brinkman	Nick Basta	2007	1
ADA Fritz	Albert Jones	2007–2009	2
ADA Kristen Torres	Lizette Carrion	2008–2009	2
ADA Samantha Copeland	Melinda McGraw	2009	1
ADA Kendra Gill	Gretchen Egolf	2009–2010	2
ADA Jo Marlowe	Sharon Stone	2010	4
ADA Sherri West	Francie Swift	2010–2011	4	Later Defense Attorney Sherri West
ADA Mikka Von	Paula Patton	2010	1
ADA Gillian Hardwicke	Melissa Sagemiller	2010–2011	10
ADA Casey Novak	Diane Neal	2011–present	4	Regular character from seasons 5–9
ADA Rose Callier	Tabitha Holbert	2011	1

Defense Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
Roger Kressler	Ned Eisenberg	1999–present	18
James Woodrow	Craig Wroe	2000–2007	9
Pam Alder	Paige Turco	2001	1
Don Newvine	Frank Deal	2001	3
Ms. Regal	Liz Larsen	2001–2002	2
Carolyn Maddox	CCH Pounder	2001–present	5
Gina Bernado	Illeana Douglas	2002–2003	3
Cleo Conrad	Jill Marie Lawrence	2002–2008	17
Trevor Langan	Peter Hermann	2002–present	27
Nikki Staines	Callie Thorne	2003–2004	2
Morty Berger	Michael Lerner	2003–2006	2
Barry Moredock	John Cullum	2003–2007	6	Later Judge Barry Moredock
Donna Emmett	Viola Davis	2003–2008	7
Rebecca Balthus	Beverly D'Angelo	2003–2008	5
Lionel Granger	David Thornton	2003–2010	10
Lorna Scarry	Mariette Hartley	2003-present	6
Dave Seaver	Michael Boatman	2003–present	7	Crossing over from Law & Order
Lynne Riff	Blair Brown	2004	2
Chauncey Zierko	Peter Riegert	2004–2007	7
Oliver Gates	Barry Bostwick	2004–2007	5
Jason Whitaker	Bradley Cooper	2005	1	Cross-over episode with Law & Order: Trial By Jury
Sophie Devere	Annie Potts	2005–2009	4
Linden Delroy	J. Paul Nicholas	2005–present	11
Hashi Horowitz	Joe Grifasi	2005–present	8
Charlie Moss	James Naughton	2006–2007	2
Matthew Braden	Steven Weber	2007	3
Russell Hunter	Austin Lysy	2007–present	7
Avery Hemmings	Michelle Borth	2008	1
Julia Zimmer	Kelly Bishop	2008–2009	2
Miranda Pond	Alex Kingston	2009–2010	4
Patrice Larue	Jeri Ryan	2009–2010	3
Dwight Stannich	Robert Klein	2009–present	4
Ms. Owens	Monique Gabriela Curnen	2010	1
Ingrid Block	Lena Olin	2010	1
John Buchanan	Delaney Williams	2010–present	3
Orville Underwood	David Patrick Kelly	2011	1
Jonah Dekker	Terrence Howard	2011	1	Crossing over from Law & Order: LA
Stan Exley	Ron Rifkin	2011–present	2
Bayard Ellis	Andre Braugher	2011–present	2
Sherri West	Francie Swift	2011	1

Judges

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
Judge Kevin Beck	Peter Francis James	2000	5
Judge Barry Abrams	Patrick Tovatt	2000	1	Crossing over from Law & Order
Judge Walter Schreiber	John Ramsay	2000	1	Crossing over from Law & Order
Judge Margaret Barry	Doris Belack	2000–2001	2	Crossing over from Law & Order
Judge Susan Valdera	Leslie Ayvazian	2000–2002	5
Judge Mark Seligman	Tom O'Rourke	2000–2006	19
Judge Alan Ridenour	Harvey Atkin	2000–present	18
Judge Lena Petrovsky	Joanna Merlin	2000–present	43
Judge Arthur Cohen	David Lipman	2002–2009	13
Judge Danielle Larsen	Sheila Tousey	2003–2004	10
Judge Walter Bradley	Peter McRobbie	2003–present	17	Crossing over from Law & Order
Judge Lois Preston	Audrie J. Neenan	2003–present	20
Judge Mary Clark	Marlo Thomas	2004	4
Judge Philip Wyler	William Whitehead	2004	2
Judge Oliver Taft	Tom Skerritt	2004	1
Judge Rebecca Steinman	Susan Blommaert	2004	1	Crossing over from Law & Order
Judge Joseph Terhune	Philip Bosco	2004–2006	6
Judge Karen Taten	Patricia Kalember	2004–present	9
Judge Elizabeth Donnelly	Judith Light	2005–present	13
Judge Joseph Malloy	Ron McLarty	2006	1
Judge Peter Harrison	Peter Gerety	2007–2008	3
Judge Gregory Trenton	John Henry Cox	2007–2010	2
Judge Barry Moredock	John Cullum	2008–present	5
Judge Hilda Marsden	Swoosie Kurtz	2009	1
Judge Joshua Koehler	Alan Dale	2009	1
Judge L. Maskin	Tonye Patano	2009–present	5
Judge D. Andrews	Lindsay Crouse	2009–present	7
Judge Sylvia Quinn	Kate Nelligan	2010–present	2
Judge Marcus Ridiger	Dick Latessa	2010	1
Judge Sheila Tripler	Anita Gillette	2010	2

Medical Experts and Hospital personnel

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers	Leslie Hendrix	1999–2000	9	Crossing over from Law & Order
Dr. Emil Skoda	J.K. Simmons	2000–2001	6	Crossing over from Law & Order
Dr. Melinda Warner	Tamara Tunie	2000–2005, 2011–present	71	Regular character from seasons 7–12
Dr. George Huang	B.D. Wong	2001–2002	20	Regular character from seasons 4–12
Paramedic Martinez	Joselin Reyes	2003–present	14
ER Nurse Carey Hutchins	Elizabeth Flax	2003–present	12
Dr. Rebecca Hendrix	Mary Stuart Masterson	2004–2007	5
Dr. Emily Sopher	Linda Emond	2004–present	5
Dr. Kyle Beresford	Stephen Gregory	2004–present	18
Dr. Manning	Amir Arison	2009–present	8

The Stabler family

Name	Portrayed by	Year	# Eps	Notes
Kathy Stabler	Isabel Gillies	1999–2011	30
Maureen Stabler	Erin Broderick	1999–2007	13
Kathleen Stabler	Holiday Segal	1999	6
Richard "Dickie" Stabler	Jeffrey Scaperrotta	1999–2009	17
Elizabeth Stabler	Patricia Cook	1999–2007	13
Kathleen Stabler	Allison Siko	2002–2011	16	Replaced Holiday Segal as Kathleen
Eliot Stabler Jr.	Various	2008–2011	3
Bernadette Stabler	Ellen Burstyn	2008	1	Elliot's mother

Minor characters

Dean Porter

• Portrayed by Vincent Spano.
• Episodes: "Infiltrated", "Florida", "Screwed", "Savant", and "Spooked"

FBI Agent Dean Porter, worked with Benson as her handler during her stint undercover in Oregon as an eco-terrorist group during season 8. He has also worked with the squad on several federal cases. He appears to have some feelings for Detective Benson and vice-versa, but the closest they ever gotten was for wine at Olivia's apartment, which she used to get Porter to fall for a bluff when they believed he knew something about a double murder with ties to a Mexican drug cartel. While Benson is working undercover as an eco-terrorist named Persephone James; when a man is murdered with ties to the group EDGE, it's discovered he was a pedophile by Benson (who is running around as Persephone) who is investigation the crime as a civilian. After Benson uncovers the pedophile nest and it's deduced that a girl is missing, Porter blows Benson's cover after she was arrested by local police. Benson convinces Porter to help her search for the girl (before he tries to ship her back to New York), Porter aggravated with Benson and her obsession on finding the girl. But when they find the victim and she confesses to why she killed her rapist, Porter understands why Benson is passionate for working sex crimes.

Porter returns in "Florida" after Benson bails out Simon Marsden (Michael Weston), who she had just discovered was her half-brother, Marsden is looked at by River Park, NJ police on rape. Porter wanted to arrest Benson for helping Marsden, so he offered her a deal, no jail time if she helped Porter catch him. Marsden flees after a meet with Olivia when he felt something was wrong, Porter having to let Olivia go after bluffing her, he had no direct evidence of Benson helping Simon. Porter and Benson tracking down Simon and Olivia learning more about her rapist father, Simon's mother who has advanced Alzheimer's tells Porter and Benson that Simon had a place in Florida, Porter going to search believing that she meant the state of Florida when she actually meant the town of Florida in Orange County, New York, where Marsden gets in a hostage situation using Captain Julia Milfeild (Kim Delaney) to get the truth uncovered. Porter decides to drop charges the FBI had against Simon Marsden after Captain Milfeild confessed to planting evidence to have Marsden convicted for raping local women in River Park and her seeking retaliation towards him for raping her younger sister, who was actually raped by her father and not Simon.

Though Porter later runs into problems due to Fin's stepson Darius (Ludacris) and his lawyer (Steven Weber), trying to cook up a defense using the SVU detectives's history at the trial where Darius murdered a woman and her baby (and walked on all charges), a process server looking for Porter to get him to testify for the defense, Porter not able to go home, Olivia tells him he can't come to her place either. Porter later tells internal affairs what he done for Olivia and Simon, at Benson's request. Porter returns in season 9 where Benson and Stabler are working the case where a girl named Katie (Paulina Gerzon) with Williams syndrome, heard her mother being beaten and raped. Her father Ben Nicholson (Aidan Quinn) is being eyed by the FBI for extortion and other federal crimes, Porter upset with the SVU running interference with the FBI's case against Nicholson; but later Nicholson get's away with the money and his daughter, leaving his ill wife behind.

Porter returned to work a case with SVU where two people were killed, their killer leaving a rape tree; Benson and Stabler believing the case was a drug-deal gone bad with involvement from a Mexican drug cartel. Porter knew who the killer was all along, the victim's roommate Terri Baines (Paola Mendoza), who was working with the FBI and was an undercover intelligence agent. Porter frequently tried to take over the investigation, so far as having the Special Victims Unit's telephones tapped to see how far along Benson and Stabler were with the case. Porter lied to Olivia throughout the whole case leaving Olivia very upset and angry with Porter, both Porter and Terri Banes getting away with murder. Porter has yet to be seen since.

Simon Marsden

• Portrayed by Michael Weston.

Simon Marsden is Detective Benson's half-brother and caused extensive trouble throughout season 8 for Olivia and the entire squad.

Ed Tucker

• Portrayed by Robert John Burke.

Ed Tucker is a detective in Internal Affairs who usually comes to question the SVU detectives whenever there is an allegation of misconduct. He has been mocked by Stabler every time he has shown up at the unit, and has an ongoing feud with Captain Cragen. Tucker was introduced as a Sergeant, and later promoted to Lieutenant.

Dana Lewis

• Portrayed by Marcia Gay Harden.
• Episodes: "Raw", "Informed", "Penetration"

An FBI agent, first introduced in the episode "Raw" while working undercover to bring down a white supremacist group. Agent Lewis specializes in undercover work, often working under assumed identities for weeks or even months at a time. Her family (husband and children) are currently living in Europe to protect them from criminals who attempt to retaliate against her. One of these criminals, the leader of the aforementioned supremacist group, ordered a fellow inmate to attack and rape her ("Penetration"). Elliot Stabler has been injured each time she has worked with them, though she was only responsible for one of these.

Sister Peg

• Portrayed by Charlayne Woodard
• Episodes: "Silence", "Chameleon", "Loss", "Criminal", "Identity", "Pure", "Underbelly", "Smoked"

Sister Peg was a Catholic Nun who lived and worked in New York City. Most of her work involved helping and protecting prostitutes. As such, she sometimes came into contact with Manhattan SVU Detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson. She was killed in the 12th season finale episode "Smoked".