to be all i can ♪ to feel like a man it takes a woman ♪ [ cheers and applause ] this is "nightline." >> tonight, who guards the guards? thousands accuse l.a. county's probation department of abusing children, including sexual abuse inside their facilities. >> i was told that i was going to find rehabilitation.

but i found -- the things that i found here was the total opposite. >> the county estimating it could cost up to $3 billion to settle with accusers. >> it's an enormous amount of money. and this is taxpayer dollars. this is record-breaking. >> the legal window temporarily open making it possible for victims to be heard. >> what does justice look like for you? >> this is just so many girls came before us and it's swept under the rug. shed the lights on it. >> plus -- ♪ i don't want another pretty face ♪ >> jesse mccartney. the beautiful soul singer reflecting back on his life in the spotlight that started on "all my children." >> i can't go every day with the community service stuff. >> how he says he avoided the pitfalls of being a child star. >> thankfully i did have this team of people that weren't afraid to tell me no. >> out with new music called "make a baby." and what he says scares him about becoming a father. >> are you ready to be a dad?

>> and on point. the record set by hundreds of ballerinas around the world. >> "nightline" will be right back. but... green... means... go! ♪ cool the pain with biofreeze. and keep on going. biofreeze. green means go. try killing bugs the worry-free way. not the other way. zevo traps use light to attract and trap flying insects with no odor and no mess. they work continuously, so you don't have to. zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly.

♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. i'm andrew dymburt. tonight horrifying allegations against juvenile detention centers in los angeles county. thousands who were once incarcerated as children say

rather than receiving help and rehabilitation they were sexually abused by the very people who were in charge of their safety, the guards. here's abc's linsey davis. >> reporter: nestled at the base of this santa clarita, california canyon lies what looks like a summer camp. but aside from the name, camp scott, the comparison ends there. >> when i got here, i was excited because i was told that i was going to find discipline, i was going to find rehabilitation. >> this is my last chance. >> reporter: when she was 17, ranell hartley was in the mtv documentary "camp scott lockup," a rare look inside the facility. camp scott is now closed. it's just one of several juvenile detention facilities owned by the l.a. county probation department which faces thousands of allegations of abuse, including rape and sexual abuse of children.

ranell was one of them. >> everywhere i look everything that i see i just see his face. >> reporter: the face of her probation officer, thomas jackson. ranell alleges in a lawsuit that he abused her more than two decades ago. he's one of multiple probation officers accused of trading privileges for sex acts with children in the county's care. >> he had me lift up my shirt to show him my breasts. i begged him, i said please don't make me do this. he said you do have a review coming up, it's up to you how i write it. he had the pen so, he had the power. another time he made me grab his penis with my hand. >> reporter: ranell and her former bunkmate akila jefferson are two litigants among the more than 2,500 now suing the county. akila says in a lawsuit that jackson, then the camp's acting director, would order her to his office when she was 16 years

old. >> he would touch me, you know, show me different things. >> how did you feel in those moments? >> first i was scared. but if i don't do it what's going to happen? >> so you felt you could never say no? >> no. i couldn't say no. >> reporter: she wound up in probation after shoplifting clothes for her younger siblings. >> my grandmother didn't have no money to buy them. >> reporter: she then violated probation by missing school. and that's how she ended up at camp scott. >> a lot of these kids don't have families. a lot of these kids' mothers and fathers are dealing with addiction, prostitution, jail, the criminal justice system themselves. they're runaways. they're a ward of the court. so they know no one's coming to look for you. >> they're black and brown. >> black and brown. black and brown. >> reporter: dominique anderson first entered the l.a. county probation system after she says she poked a classmate with a pencil. >> the police came.

she said you stabbed the girl with the pencil and that's a deadly weapon and it's a felony. >> reporter: dominique was hopeful that the probation program might offer her new skills. the department says its mission is to rebuild the lives of troubled youth. instead, she says she was groomed by three of the very officers who were supposed to protect her. here at the crenshaw probation department ernest walker was a supervisor. in her lawsuit dominique says that he picked her up from her grandmother's house, drove her to a hotel for sex, and then paid her $200. >> he actually orgasmed on the ride to the hotel. >> how old were you when you first met ernest walker? >> 13. >> you were 13. do you know roughly how old he was? >> i believe he had to be like mid to late 40s. >> reporter: for her silence, she says in the lawsuit, walker would routinely leave her money in a flower pot at this gas station. >> i remember him telling me

things like oh, i love that your breasts are just sprouting. he was really interested in the fact that i was so young. >> you'r i remember him telling things like oh, i love that your breasts are just sprouting. he was really interested in the fact that i was so young. >> you'rwhistle. >> she said he has a daughter, he has a career, he has a lot to lo lose. >> what did you lose? >> i think i lost my innocence. my self-esteem. >> there's a saying that loosely translated in english is who will guard the guards? and i'm wondering if you feel that anybody was. >> no. and it's hard.

it's hard when it's this pervasive because everybody's dirty. you know what i mean? who can you trust? >> it brings up some hard memories. what happened while i was here. >> reporter: when rahnell tried to report her sexual abuser to the head of camp scott she says her own traumatic past, that she was molested and forced into prostitution at 11 years old, was used against her. >> i report td to a director and she opened a file cabinet and she opened my file and she was like, "well, thomas, looking at your file you can understand why i can't just take your word for it." it shattered me. >> reporter: in 2006 the department of justice began investigating l.a.'s juvenile halls and camps. it revealed systemic abuse and unsafe conditions. and as a result they were put under federal oversight for six years. an "l.a. times" investigation in 2010 found at least 11 probation officers had been convicted of

crimes or disciplined for inappropriate conduct with the youth in their care, including having sex with children in detention halls, beatings and molestation. >> the people in charge just didn't give a damn about the children that they were responsible for protecting. >> reporter: the law firm manley stewart & finalde was first to bring a lawsuit against l.a. county after california opened a three-year lookback window for anyone reporting sexual abuse, and the floodgates opened. >> so many women have told us their stories of coming to camp with the hopes of rehabilitation, being groomed and that turning into sexual abuse, rape, manipulation, control. >> do you think that some of those accused probation officers are still working today? >> absolutely. absolutely. we've learned that recently the county has placed about 20 of them on leave. the county has known about this problem for over three decades.

>> reporter: the lawsuits are now in discovery. but the county has estimated that it could cost up to $3 billion to settle cases with the thousands who say they were abused. >> this is taxpayer dollars. this is record-breaking. >> reporter: in a statement to abc news the los angeles county probation department said, "the vast majority of the lawsuits against the county predate the current probation and county leadership," noting "we want to ensure no alleged offenders have contact with youth in our care." and vowing "we take all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, investigate each one and such conduct is absolutely deplorable and we want to do our best to ensure that nothing like this happens." they also added that eight people connected with these cases have left the probation department with two cases referred to the district attorney. but just recently the "l.a. times" reported yet another probation officer was accused of having sex with an incarcerated minor and was arrested.

soon after the lawsuits were found the man ranell and akeila accuse, thomas jackson, retired after 33 years with the department. days later dominique's alleged abuser, ernest walker, retired too. >> they were both able to retire and as of now collect a pension. >> reporter: we reached out to walker and jackson's attorney, who declined to comment on their behalf. and in court filings l.a. county jackson and walker have denied all the allegations. >> the fact that he was able to retire a decorated person within the juvenile probation system as he preyed on me, it's just ridiculous. it's sad, but it shows how broken the system is. >> reporter: akeila now works for advocates for peace and urban unity trying to help kids from her neighborhood become successful. >> here we do gang intervention and we just added sexual abuse as well. >> you need some shoes?

you need some clothes? i want my organization to be able to provide that for you. you don't have to go out and do things or take this. even though you don't want to. i can remember him on top of me and i literally crying. and he's upset because i'm crying. because that's messing with him getting off. and i don't want nobody else to experience that. >> what does justice look like for you? >> this. this is justice. so many girls came before us. and it's swept under the rug. y'all shed the lights on it. >> reporter: a daughter of l.a., ranell hartley moved far away from the pain she now associates with that city. >> i would love an apology from los angeles county probation department.

>> reporter: dominique went on to study here at california state university dominguez hills. >> dominique anderson! >> reporter: now a mother of five, she's studying for her master's in marriage and family therapy. >> i'm still trying to fix myself and still blaming myself for what i went through. so it takes strength to be able to sit here and do this. but someone's got to do it. >> our thanks to linsey for that report. when we return, we switch gears. jesse mccartney's beautiful soul. ♪ i don't want just anyone to hold ♪ ♪ i want you and your beautiful soul ♪ with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help.

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>> andrew: welcome back. you may know him from "all my children," "alf sxint chipmunks" or from his breakout single "beautiful soul." jesse mccartney sat down with abc's ree yannion alley to discuss life, love and his new music. >> jesse mccartney, welcome. >> thanks, how are you? >> i'm fantastic. 20 years ago you couldn't turn on the tv, you couldn't turn on the radio without seeing you everywhere. what over the years has been the biggest challenge going from that teen pop star to the musician, to the man, the actor you are now? >> the biggest challenge, a lot of it was the early, you know, regular teenage struggles. battling things like acne and puberty on camera and in the public eye. i think i just feel more settled now than ever. >> would you say you live a pretty normal life now? >> i mean, define normal.

but i -- yeah. i'm really happy with where i'm at. i feel like at peace and settled. and i still enjoy making music and traveling and touring and having this career. but it's not always the most important thing now. i think my priorities have changed. >> now let's talk about some of these huge hits you had. "beautiful soul." ♪ i don't want my love to go to waste ♪ ♪ i want you and your beautiful soul ♪ that was 2004. and "bleeding love." >> yeah. >> that song was everywhere, performed by leona lewis. ♪ keep bleeding ♪ ♪ keep, keep bleeding love ♪ >> it reached number one. when you were writing those songs, did you know you had hits on your hands? >> no one ever knows if they have a hit. and if they tell you they do they're lying because had that magic chip they'd be the biggest thing in music. you have a good sense of what's going to work and what's good, sometimes it's great and sometimes it falls flat. "bleeding love" was one of those rare moments. you write something, it sort of

sits around for a while and gets picked back up by another artist. that song changed everything for me as a writer. >> you have a new song and a visualizer with young gravy. it's called "make a baby." let's show the audience. ♪ i want it all ♪ ♪ it's tasty ♪ ♪ i eat it up ♪ ♪ and the more she makes me ♪ in the car ♪ ♪ mercedes ♪ ♪ ♪ mercedes ♪ ♪ buckle up for safety ♪ ♪ she says could i make a baby with you ♪ >> the video's really funny, actually. you guys are kind of kosplaying dads. you 34e7xed your wife katie. >> this song came from trying to start a family which we're in the process of now. it started as this serious thing and quickly became this sort of jokey corny little pop tune. that i think is relatable for a lot of people and pokes fun at like how unromantic it can be sometimes trying to start a family at weird hours of the night. >> are you ready to be a dad?

>> i think so. i'm kind of terrified of keeping something alive just in general. but i think i can do it. >> let's take it back because you were a child actor. you starred in "all my children." >> yep. >> on abc. >> girls, i can't go anywhere. i'm here all day with this community service stuff. >> and also you've done a will the of voice acting. you were theodore in "alvin and the chipmunks." >> are you awake? >> i am now. >> i had a nightmare. >> any more acting in your future? >> definitely. i love all aspects of performing. i think music sort of took the forefront of my career, took the driver's seat. but i still love acting. i love voice acting. alvin and the chipmunks is one of my favorite gigs just because you don't have to go through hair and makeup. you can just show up in your pajamas and record. i'd love to do some sort of sketch comedy thing. so maybe after this tour we'll start working on that. >> do fans still recognize you from "all my children"? >> i'll be in like a department store and i never know what it's going to be. i know if it's a young child it's the alf sxint chipmunks

thing or if it's a young girl it's music-related. it's just fun to meet people who have sort of been introduced to my career in different places. >> there's been so much talk recently about child actors and all the things on set and with fans. what was your experience like? >> i remember feeling a little overworked as a child. you know, you're supposed to have like a certain amount of hours you can work. i think there was just less accountability then and it wasn't talked about as much. it's nice that it's coming to light and people are being held accountable. but thankfully i had a great family. i had a really great team. still have the same team for like 20-plus years. and they always have my best interests. >> do you attribute your strong village for how you turned out? your living a normal life. >> yeah. 100%. every teenage person is going to mess up or fail or do something wrong and mine just happened to be in the public spotlight. thankfully, i did have this team of people that were just no people, that weren't afraid to say no to things or tell me no. >> we are so happy to see you

doing so well. and back on stage. >> thanks so much. >> we are thrilled to see it. thank you so much for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> andrew: our thanks to r rhiannon. jesse mccartney's "all's well" tour is out now. when we return, hundreds of ballerinas coming together to set a record. to help protect from hiv, i prep without pills. with apretude, a prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of hiv without daily prep pills. with one shot every other month, just 6 times a year. in studies, apretude was proven superior to a daily prep pill in reducing the risk of hiv. you must be hiv negative, to receive apretude and get tested before each injection. if you think you were exposed to hiv or have flu-like symptoms, tell your doctor right away. apretude does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections. practice safer sex to reduce your risk. don't take apretude if you're allergic to it or taking certain medicines, as they may interact. tell your doctor if you've had liver or kidney problems or mental health concerns.

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he ♪ >> andrew: finally tonight, they came, they danced, and they stayed on pointe. tonight's "nightlight." at the plaza hotel in new york city 500 ballerinas from around the world ages 9 to 19 gathering to raise awareness for the ballet scholarship program youth american grand prix and set a new world record by dancetion on pointe on their toes for 60 seconds straight. >> three, two, one, go! >> andrew: they needed at least 306. and in the end 353 set a new record. >> it was a proud moment for all of us ballet dancers. >> i had never broken a record before and it was really exciting. [ cheers and applause