‘Law & Order: SVU’ Spoilers: What Happened In The Season 15 Finale? Recap Before The Season 16 Premiere

Dun Dun! “Law & Order: SVU” is back Wednesday night, Sept. 24, with the Season 16 premiere at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC. The long running crime drama, with its storyline taken straight of newspaper headlines, returns with all new episodes, starting with the premiere, “Girls Disappeared.” However fans might need a refresher on how Season 15 ended.

The finale, “Spring Awakening,” centered on the attempted rape and robbery of Hans Erhand (Karl Miller). Hans attempted to hire a call girl off craigslist, but after letting the girl, named Elli (Emma Greenwell), into his room, she called her boss, Little Tino (Gavin Keith-Umeh) who robbed Hans and raped him with his gun.

Sergeant Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Detective Rollins (Kellie Giddish) were on the case and brought in Elli for questioning after Hans picked her out of a lineup. With Elli being a minor they wanted her to testify against Tino, but she refused. However, after a Baby Doe is revealed to be Elli’s baby, she agreed to testify to avoid being charged with endangering a minor.

Benson tracked down Tino and arrested him, but meanwhile, Elli struggled with her drug addiction and broke out of the safe house where Benson left her. Benson was able to track down Elli using Tino’s bracelet, but when they found her she had been gang raped, tortured and killed. Tino said he gave the order.

The episode concluded with Benson agreeing to adopt Elli’s baby, named Noah, since she had wanted a child for a long time. The finale sets up a more personal story arc for Benson who will now have to balance police work and being a mother in the new episodes.

The premiere, “Girls Disappeared,” will feature the arrest of a prostitute connected with Elli, Noah’s mother, while Benson struggles with her new role as foster parent. Season 16 of “Law & Order: SVU” premieres Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC.

How will Benson fare as a parent? Tweet your thoughts to @Ja9GarofaloTV.