1. Privilege (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0629706/) In this season four episode, the SVU investigated whether a young woman jumped, fell or was pushed to her death from a building. Their investigation ultimately showed that the teen-aged son of a rich family that lived in the same building pushed her to her death.
This story sounds a lot like the real-life series of events surrounding a pair of real-life co-workers from Texas named Sandra Orellana and Robert Lee Salazar. According to a 2002 article in a newspaper named “The Baytown Sun,” during a 1996 business trip to California, Orellana was found dead from a fall from a hotel room. The newspaper article also noted that although Salazar was charged in Orellana’s death, a jury found him innocent.
2. Name (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0629688/) In this season seven episode, the remains of a Puerto Rican boy who disappeared roughly 25 ago were found. This discovery thrust members of the SVU into a renewed search for several other Puerto Rican boys who went missing around the same time and were never located. A second story during this episode centers around a Crime Scene Unit investigator’s determination to solve a case her police officer father could not: the identity of a boy found dead in a box about the same time the Puerto Rican boys did.
The story of the missing Puerto Rican boys closely aligns with that of five Black boys who, according to nj.com, went missing from the Newark, New Jersey area, in 1978 and were never found. The story about the boy found dead in a box whom the police could not identify runs parallel to a case mentioned in “The Philadelphia Inquirer” which centered on a boy who had been found dead in a box in 1957 and – at the time of the episode’s airing – was still unidentified.
3. Stranger (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1248623/) This season ten episode was centered on the SVU’s investigation into a teen-aged girl who gives her name as that of a girl who went missing four years earlier. However, the girl turned out to be impersonating the girl who had disappeared.
This story sounds very much like that of Nicholas Barclay. CharleyProject.org stated that 13-year-old Nicholas went missing from his Texas home in 1994. The website added that three years later, a man in Spain who said he escaped from a child sex ring identified himself as Nicholas. According to the website, Nicholas’ mother and sister believed the man was their relative, but a fingerprint test later proved it was not.
4. Selfish (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1248631/) In another season ten episode, the SVU (wrongly) suspected that the young, rebellious mother whose child went missing killed her 11-month-old daughter.
The lifestyle that the young rebellious mother lived on SVU had some similarities to the circumstances that occurred during the investigation into the disappearance and death of two-year-old Callie Anthony. CNN reported that although many consider Callie’s mother responsible for what happened to her daughter. That said, a jury found the mother not guilty of her daughter’s death.
5. Locum (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1702168/) In this season 12 episode, the SVU investigated the disappearance of a foster child. After she was returned home to her foster parents without being harmed, she made comments that spurred the unit to reopen the search for the foster parents’ biological daughter who went missing about a decade ago. The biological daughter was found living in squalor and returned to her parents.
The recovery of the parents’ biological daughter seems to mirror that of Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped near her California home in 1991 and was missing for nearly two decades, according to “The Denver Post.” In 2009, she left the badly-needing repaired structure her captors had held her in and told a law enforcement official her name, setting about a series of events that reunited her with her parents, “The Denver Post” also reported.
6. Personal Fouls (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2016572/) This season 13 episode centered on the SVU’s investigation into sexual abuse accusations (and eventually proven) made against a high school basketball coach.
I have little doubt this episode was inspired by the case that was eventually built against Assistant Penn State Football Coach Jerry Sandusky. The Daily Collegian reported that Sandusky was accused of sexually abusing children as far back as 1971. According to the newspaper, Sandusky was found guilty of sexually abusing ten boys on 45 of the four dozen charges brought against him in 2012. He received a sentence of 30 to 60 years in prison, the newspaper also reported.
7. October Surprise (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3250412/) This episode, which aired during season 15, focused on the SVU’s investigation into a sex scandal that involved a man running for mayor of New York City. Among the charges was that he was sending and receiving sexually explicit photos from a girl still in high school. At first, the man denied his involvement. However, mounting evidence against him eventually caused him to admit to his wrongdoings and he withdrew from the mayoral race.
This story appears to run parallel to that of Anthony Weiner, who, according to an United Press International article, was forced to resign from a U.S. House of Representative seat when it was discovered he had exchanged lewd photos with women other than his wife. The article also said Weiner committed the same act when he ran for mayor of New York City. According to the article, some of the photos were sent to a 15-year-old girl.
8. Devil’s Dissections (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4524654) During an episode that aired during season 17, the SVU feared a murder suspect’s attorneys had provided enough evidence to put reasonable doubt in the jury. Later that evening, two members of the squad came across a legally admissible videotape where the suspect mumbled loud enough for the video camera to pick up him saying “kill them all, whatever it takes.” The evidence is key to the suspect making an allocution statement.
The suspect’s musings closely resembled those made in 2015 by Robert Durst after he was confronted with evidence against him in several murders. An NPR report that aired in 2021 after Durst was convicted of murder stated that shortly after that confrontation, he muttered to himself on a live microphone that he "killed them all, of course.” NPR also reported that Durst was later found guilty of murder.
9. Townhouse Incident (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5196638/) This episode, which also aired in season 17, involves a family being taken hostage and the SVU’s attempts to bring it to a peaceful conclusion. During the ordeal, the daughter of the family was raped and the mother was taken to the bank to obtain money for the hostage takers.
The elements of this story bear a close resemblance to those experienced in 2007 by the Petit family of Connecticut. “USA Today” reported that two men entered the home and among other things, sexually assaulted the mother and one of her two daughters. The newspaper also stated that one of the two men took the mother to the bank and ordered her to withdraw money.
10. The Newsroom (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5902032/). This season 18 episode centered on the SVU investigating a news anchor’s claims that her boss sexually assaulted her.
The story closely aligns with that of Journalist Gretchen Carlson. A report in “Variety” indicated she sued Roger Ailes, her boss and CEO of Fox News, for sexual harassment and ultimately settled with the network.