Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Episode 8.21 Pretend

The SVU was called to investigate the body of a teenage boy that was found in a warehouse. The teen had on a mask and was tortured to death due with excessive wounds all over his body, particularly the genital area.

A local tipster told the detectives to look into a local sex offender who lived in the area. Stabler and Benson interviewed Darren at his job and he denied everything. He accused Sonia Briglund, of making his life hell for a crime he already paid for. Sonia believed that Darren had kidnapped her son years earlier, but they never found a body.

Stabler and Benson interviewed Sonia about Darren. She told the detectives how sad her life had been since her son's disappearance. She accused Darren of taking her boy and killing him. When she found out about the detectives' recent discovery, she asked to see the body of the victim. She was shocked to recognize the boy as her son, Joey.

A teenager came in looking to help the SVU with their investigation. He referred to their victim as Riley Cusky. The teenager had proof that their victim was not Joey and it was in fact, Riley. Finn wanted proof; the kid showed a video camera and claimed to have the entire death filmed.

Benson, Stabler, and Cragen were in shock as they watched the video of Riley's death. It was a staged fight with real-life weapons. Finn and Munch questioned Scott about the crime and later found out that Scott was the other guy involved in the fight. He said they wanted to film it to sell it online. Stabler wanted Scott to call his parents and then give a statement.

Novak brought Scott up on charges of murder. His defense tried to paint the case as two young teenagers whose fun went terribly wrong. After her day in court, Cassandra Sullivan confronted Novak and introduced herself as Riley's girlfriend. She told Novak that Scott constantly wrote her saying he was so sorry for his actions. In the end, Scott was found not guilty of all crimes but negligent homicide.

After the trial, Novak paid Cassandra a visit at her foster parents' house. She found out that while dating Riley, Cassandra had a fling with Scott. This gave Scott motive for murder. Novak discovered that Scott learned in his anatomy class about how to slice a person's leg open in order for them to bleed to death. Exactly how Riley died.

It was time for sentencing for Scott and Cassandra promised she would give a statement to show how guilty Scott really was. When it came time for her to speak, Cassandra was nowhere to be found. Stabler and Benson went on a mission to look for her. Scott was sentenced to five-year probation.

The reasoning behind Cassandra's disappearance from court was because she was in the hospital after being hit by a car. After looking at camera footage of the accident, the guy who hit Cassandra was a friend of Scott's, Keith. He was brought in for questioning. Keith said that Scott offered him money to run Cassandra over.

After visiting Cassandra in the hospital, the doctor wanted a private word with Benson. She told Benson that when she was wiring Cassandra's mouth shut, she noticed that her wisdom teeth had been pulled years ago. Meaning that Cassandra's real age range had to be in the late 20's or early 30's.

Cassandra stood by her story that she was 16. The detectives used Cassandra's DNA to prove that she had been scamming people for years by lying about her age. Novak couldn't believe Cassandra snuck from state to state living in foster homes for years. Novak offered to get Cassandra counseling.

Scott's attorney walked into the SVU and made a shocking statement. He wanted to press statutory rape charges against Cassandra for sleeping with his client. He accused Stabler of a double standard for not wanting Novak to prosecute the case. Novak tried to get Cassandra to plead guilty, but she refused, sticking by her story that she was 16.

Scott took the stand to testify against Cassandra. Cassandra wanted to cross-examine Scott on the stand, so she did. Scott lashed out at Cassandra for lying to him, telling her and the courtroom he only murdered Riley because of her. Scott was taken away.

Later on, Cassandra confessed to Novak that she purposely got Scott to admit he murdered Riley, but still refused to admit her real age. Novak brought in one of Cassandra's foster parents from years ago in Detroit. The woman reminded Cassandra that she lived with her for years until the State took her away after turning 18-years-old.

Cassandra admitted that she wanted to forever be a teenager after the state took her away from Mrs. Hayes. Novak was relieved because Cassandra was admitting her age. Stabler and Benson showed up with bad news; more boys were coming forward to press statutory rape charges against Cassandra.