After an up-and-coming artist is brutally murdered in her apartment, Detectives Odafin Tutuola and Elliot Stabler link her death to another unsolved murder case. As they pursue the case further, they realize that these two murders have striking similarities to a string of murders by a mysterious serial killer that Detective Victor Moran has been following for months. Moran fights to keep his control over the case as Detectives Fin and Stabler struggle to find the killer.

Kim Garnet is found brutally beaten after she sends out nude photos of herself via text message. Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler pay a visit to Kim's boyfriend, Steve Walker, but eventually learn that he is not the only recipient of the nude photos. Kathleen Stabler steps in to give Kim advice, as she tries to track down the culprit who distributed the photos. But after Counselor Samantha Copeland demands that Benson arrest Kim for producing and distributing child pornography, Kim must face the possibility of life-long consequences when Judge Hilda Marsden hands down an unusually harsh sentence.