>> who wouldn't want them? an adoption that looked perfect on paper. sisters. with a troubled past. >> it's my job to keep you safe and protected. >> they thought they were prepared. they weren't. >> they said if we loved them enough, it would get better. and it never got better. >> then the outrage, when they changed their minds and gave the girls away. >> did you put them on ebay? you're a monster yourself. >> absolutely disgraceful. >> you walked in, and got out. >> they say they had no choice. >> she was going to kill me with a knife.

say the parents claim the girls were possessed. >> they had demons? >> they wanted them and would never let them go. >> the video they say was proof of their nonstop nightmare. >> maybe it's because you weren't equipped. >> and for the first time on camera, the little girls in the middle of the tug of war. >> it sounds like you're passing kids around like they're pets. >> a fire storm of outrage, coming down to a single question. when things don't work out with your apoptdopted children, can you give them away? >> trying to find a forever family, but what happened when

those girls had demons. some wondered if those parents were the demons. one note, to protect the girls, we're not showing their faces or using their names. >> reporter: come to northwest arkansas and here amid the beauty of the ozark mountains you'll find a landscape dotted with hay stacks and church the air filled with birdsong and the joyful noise of gospel choirs. as you drive south from fayetteville, you reach the tiny town of west fork. blink and you'll miss it. >> do you think it'll be about how to be saved or -- >> reporter: it was here that justin and marsha harris were raising their three boys in a devoutly christian household. >> heavenly father god, we come to you in the name of jesus. lord, we just thank you for today. >> reporter: when one evening after dinner, they received a mysterious phone call from a woman they'd never met -- the mother of three little girls making a request they never expected. >> "will you please take my

going to lose her children. >> reporter: but did you ask her why she was losing her daughters? >> of course. she didn't tell me much of anything. >> reporter: "take my daughters." three sisters, ages 4, 2, and 9 months. a strange request, yes, but not an absurd one. the harrises are known as child care professionals. they hold degrees in child development. they run a christian day care center called growing god's kingdom. and justin, running as a family values conservative, has been elected to the state legislature. >> hi, my name is justin harris. i represent district 81. isaiah, is it your turn to do the car devotion? >> reporter: spend any time with them and you will see right away it is all about faith and family. >> god, i pray that you help me. >> reporter: marsha, describe justin as a father? >> he's loving and patient and he puts his children first. i couldn't ask for him to be a better dad. >> reporter: why does that make

you emotional, justin? >> because i love my family so much. i think that's what's important at the end of the day. >> reporter: so important in fact, that the harrises had they wanted to adopt more children. >> we saw the need of other children and we think that is out there. onto our house. we added two more bathrooms onto to our home. concrete before having anything in place, right? >> yes, nothing was in place. >> reporter: when that odd phone call came, it almost felt like divine intervention. over the following months the harrises discussed and prayed and decided to go for it. they arrange a meeting with the mother in the parking lot of this fayetteville church and they tell her they want her daughters. don't you think maybe you weren't considering all the possibilities? that this might be a little that this might be a little bit more than you should take on? >> elizabeth, i think we did consider those possibilities, but i want to be clear. why we're wanting to do this

children. >> reporter: it sounds rash to decide to adopt three girls you haven't met, about whom you know very little. different than doing an international adoption where you have not met children. >> reporter: the harrises would soon learn some of the harrowing details of the girls' short, but troubled lives. a drug-addicted mother, involved prone to criminal activity and abuse of the kids. a house reduced to ashes in a meth fire. ugly stuff. in fact, by now, the three little girls are wards of the state department of human services, or dhs. and how were they doing, all three girls? >> the two younger girls were doing great. just two normal little girls. the older girl had some problems, and she would have some outbursts sometimes. >> reporter: adoption specialist jan wallis is brought in to find the girls a permanent home. by now, the oldest daughter is in therapeutic foster care and the two youngest girls are in the home of cheryl and

respected foster parents. you got the baby first. >> we did. she was cute. she was really cute. >> reporter: what about the middle daughter, what was she like? >> she was just over 2. she loved bows in her hair. she loved matching flouncy little tutus. she loved to get dressed b elf inhe morning. >> r tehe girls have already been it appears the youngest, still a baby, has already been sleep-trained the hard way. >> she didn't cry? >> not really. >> not much. you could see that she hadn't gotten any attention and she wasn't used to people, you know, fussing over her or whatever -- >> reporter: so, even at nine months she learned not to cry because -- >> nobody came. >> nobody came. >> reporter: and the middle girl indicates some of the attention she had received was the wrong kind. >> she said, "my baby sister, is she safe?" and i said, "yes, she's safe, why?" and she said, "um, i don't want the boogeyman to get me, i don't want him to get my baby sister." so it didn't take long to figure

out that she had been abused. >> reporter: still, the harts say the girls never really acted out. they weren't violent in any way. >> never. >> no, never. >> reporter: instead they say these images show the girls' typical disposition. happily brushing their teeth, playing on the playground. this is the middle girl having fun at a football game. >> our father. >> who art in heaven. >> reporter: and at night, saying the our father. like any faithful christian family, the harts carefully taught her the lord's prayer. >> forever and ever amen. >> reporter: meanwhile nearby, two other faithful parents, marsha and justin harris, are hoping to take those three girls they've never met out of the temporary placement at the harts and permanently adopt them to become their "forever family." but there is a snag. dhs isn't making things easy, concerned about placing abused girls in a home with any other

ever placed there. >> reporter: ever? >> ever. because, as a family they had no with these issues? >> reporter: wallis wants them children. >> it'd just be better. for one thing, they could get full attention. they could get the therapies that they needed. >> reporter: but the harrises insist the opposition from dhs was about something else -- their faith. >> dhs was opposed from the first meeting that we had, because they felt like we were a fanatical couple. that was their number one issue. >> reporter: so, they weren't concerned about the girls? they were concerned about your faith? >> yes. and they said it's going to take more than god to deal with this issue. >> reporter: the harrises hear all about it during a meeting with everyone involved with caring for the girls. >> and they had their therapist there. the case workers were there. everybody tried to talk to them so they realized how serious an undertaking they were asking. it just fell on deaf ears. >> how blunt was everybody being with the harrises in this

meeting? did people say, this is a bad idea -- >> reporter: and what did she say? >> she said, we each have a development, we have a day care where we have therapists on site, and we have god, and we believe in the power of prayer. >> reporter: the harrises are adamant. they feel they can handle the girls. and by the summer of 2012, despite all those objections, a judge approves the triple adoption. >> when the judge said you are going to take the oldest girl first and see how that goes. and if things go well, then we will gradually move in the other two. they literally fell to their knees and thanked jesus. i'm not kidding you. >> reporter: their prayers have been answered. the harrises have the family they wanted. so how does their little slice of heaven turn into a living hell? >> she was just screaming and raged at the tops of her lungs. and i said, "this is what i'm

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"20/20" continues, with the forever family. once again, elizabeth vargas. >> what do you think? >> reporter: like any modern couple with good news to share, the harrises take to facebook to

daughters have been given. we're now the proud parents of three beautiful young girls. but the girls need to live in the home for six months before any adoption can be finalized. the judge decides the oldest sister, then 6 years old, would arrive first. justin tells his three sons, then 8, 9 and 11, the house will no longer be dominated by the y chromosome. >> we're adopting girls so you're going to have to wear pajamas from here on out. so which room was this? >> this was originally the oldest child's room. >> reporter: given the girls' traumatic past, the harrises take some precautions. so you had an alarm up here on the frame, that would tell you, it would go off if the door was opened? >> yes. >> reporter: and they take it a dramatic step further.

bed. >> reporter: did two of the boys sleep here? >> yes. >> reporter: all three sons move into their master bedroom. isn't that a little weird, to have all five of you in one bedroom and -- >> not when you're bringing in children to adapt in a home that we don't know. my children that were first given to me, my biological children, those are the ones that we were going to safeguard first and foremost. >> reporter: the harrises know these are little girls who come with big issues. but marsha, an abuse survivor herself, feels she can help them heal. >> i'm sorry that your daddies that you had, did those things to you, but your daddy that you he does not do those things to you. >> got it. >> reporter: in this video, she has a talk with the oldest sister. june of 2012. >> if anyone ever touches you in an inappropriate way, look at not, i need you to let mommy know because it's my job to keep

okay? >> okay. >> reporter: to an outside observer, all would seem well. the oldest sister even pops up in her pre-adoptive father's campaign ad, a violation of adoption law. harris is told to remove the image. what were your first impressions of her when you met her? >> we loved her. and we still do. >> reporter: but almost immediately there are clear signs that the harrises have taken on more than they thought. >> she was a very hurt child. >> reporter: how could you tell she was hurt? >> because in the very beginning, she would not attach to anyone. she would come in. she cussed us out. she had a lot of anger. >> reporter: anger that they say looked like this. the harrises say these tantrums would ignite without warning. >> and i had showed dhs a video of her. and they were like, oh, good luck with that. she was just screaming and raged

at the tops of her lungs. and i said, this is what i'm dealing with 8 to 12 hours a day. >> reporter: 8 to 12 hours a day? >> it never stopped. just screaming. and there were no tears. just rage screaming nonstop. >> reporter: given the fact that things go south so quickly why would you proceed with the adoption? >> we thought things could get better. the counselor said if we loved them enough that it would get better. and it never got better. >> reporter: despite the ongoing domestic drama the harrises never waver. they proceed to bring the two younger sisters in, introducing them to the family pet. taking them to the duck pond. but their arrival only adds gasoline to the increasingly combustible household. >> when they see each other, it triggers old memories, bad memories. >> she starts talking about biological mom to bring it back up. the things they had been through, things they had experienced. >> reporter: what were they doing? >> i would ask the middle one. i would say, what are you doing, you know, when you sneak out of

your room? and she said, i'm going to kill my brothers. >> reporter: listen to this home video. >> why would you tell? you're going to kill him? >> because he told me that. >> who told you that? >> the bad man. >> the bad man? >> reporter: the middle girl discussing fantasies of murder with sweetness in her voice. >> what did he tell you to do to him? >> to kill him for real. >> reporter: as their fear grows, so does the surveillance. >> we would do three-hour shifts of sleeping in the room. i would sleep for three hours, watch the cameras. then marsha would sleep for three hours, watch the cameras to make sure that they would not sneak out of their rooms. >> reporter: the harrises would learn there is an explanation for what was going on. the oldest girl had been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder or r.a.d., causing an inability to attach with others. the harrises would later get the middle sister diagnosed as well. r.a.d. is an often misunderstood

psychological condition that develops when a child's basic need for comfort and affection are not met. in serious cases these children can become dangerous. this sounds like a family under siege. >> it is. >> it feels like it. >> reporter: the harrises suggested we speak with these parents who also adopted children with r.a.d. they say the harrises ordeal mirrors their own. >> we adopted two children, the stab his brother on three separate occasions. >> my daughter tormented her lit her baby blanket on fire, and cut all her hair off before she was three years old. >> they kick you in the face, they spit at you. >> and their rages are with knives. >> reporter: as the situation rapidly deteriorates, the harrises say they are at a loss, expertise, their prayers, it's just not enough. the oldest sister, especially, is beginning to frighten them.

that she was a danger, a 6-year-old girl? >> well, she was going to kill me with a knife in the front and the back. she was going to bash her brothers' heads in with a rock. >> reporter: that must have been scary. >> it was very cold. >> reporter: after only 16 days with all three girls under their roof, the harrises say they can't take any more. they call dhs and drop the oldest sister off at an inpatient psychiatric facility. but then on a day visit home, they say she kills the family guinea pig. how did that happen? >> her words to me were, i stepped on it until i felt it with my foot. and i wanted it to die so that my brothers can hurt like i hurt. >> reporter: after that, the oldest girl's temporary removal from the harris home becomes permanent. still within her six-month trial period, her adoption is terminated. but what did you tell this little girl about why she

couldn't stay with you? >> you know that you can't come back and live in our home. you're not safe. you have to go live where there's not other children. >> reporter: coming up -- the harrises remain convinced the other two girls can be saved. but what lengths will they go to do it? >> there was a group coming in from alabama that was supposed to pray over the children and get the demons out as an exorcism. >> reporter: so marsha and justin told you there was an exorcism? the babysitter's story, when we come back. she can rage, and roar, and crack, and storm. but mother nature can't stop us. the new 2016 ford explorer. be unstoppable. across america, people like basketball hall of famer dominique wilkins... ...are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes...

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we return to "20/20"'s the forever family. with elizabeth vargas. >> reporter: it is january 2013 and the harris household is deep into its winter of discontent. >> we're not sleeping. we're at our wits' end. we've done all this counseling. and nothing is getting better. >> reporter: the oldest of the three sisters is no longer there, but the harrises say the

middle sister, also diagnosed with r.a.d., is now acting out despite regular therapy sessions. did you have the training to deal with this? >> we did our four years in child development specialist. i worked at children's house, a therapeutic daycare center, so we know it. >> reporter: and yet you both admit that you were completely at a loss. >> even professional counseling' doesn't even teach you to deal with children with reactive attachment disorder. >> reporter: and yet despite all the difficulties the harrises are steadfastly moving forward with the permanent adoption process. that march, a judge grants their wish. the harrises are now the girls' "forever family." justin goes public with the news on twitter. his followers respond, "adoption is great!" and justin agrees but in reality things were anything but. >> the first night they left me

this music blaring at her door. christian music blaring. the main rule, they couldn't interact with each other at all. >> reporter: you were never allowed to have both girls in the room at the same time? >> no. >> reporter: the harrises' babysitter that spring says she walked into a house governed by strange rules and even stranger explanations from marsha. what did she tell you? >> that her children had demons and they could telepathically speak to each other. >> reporter: demons? >> mainly the middle child, she had demons and she would speak to her younger sister and tell her to do things telepathically. >> reporter: like mind talk? >> yeah, like they were always separated and she could do it from in her room while her sister was in the other side of the house. >> reporter: and the tales of the supernatural don't stop there. >> they did tell me that a demon was like, she was lifting up off the bed, like levitating. >> reporter: the claim seems outlandish but former dhs

supports chelsey's allegations. so marsha believed that the girls truly were possessed by demons. >> yes. >> reporter: she told you, the girls wanted the demons inside them. >> yes. >> reporter: what did you say? >> i was pretty floored. pretty flabbergasted. i didn't know what to say. >> reporter: chelsey says marsha even tried to expel the demons herself. >> she was kneeled beside the bed, and like praying and at one point she was getting really aggressive and you know, like shaking the bed like she was trying to get the demons out. >> reporter: what was she saying? >> get them out of my children, cleanse my child. >> reporter: where was the middle girl when this was going on? >> she was holding on to the side of the bed, screaming.

didn't work chelsea says the harrises brought in some experts. "spiritual advisors" hal and alandra parks from birmingham, alabama. >> there was a group coming in to pray over the children and get the demons out as an exorcism, is what they said. exorcism happen? weeks after i started working there. but they did not want me around because if your heart wasn't in the right place, then the demons would attach to you instead. >> reporter: jan wallis says she discussed the parks' visit with did you ask her, is this an exorcism? >> yes. >> reporter: what did she say? >> she said it was. >> reporter: she told you, it was an exorcism? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: the parks declined our request for comment. they have previously confirmed a visit to the harris house but denied being involved in any exorcism. so does justin. >> we are southern baptist. we do not do exorcism. i'll be very clear about that. period. >> reporter: you didn't bring somebody to the house to exorcise the devil from these two girls --

>> no. i mean, did we turn to prayer? yes. marsha and i pray every single day morning, noon, and night. and never will we deny praying. >> reporter: the harrises categorically deny all of chelsea's allegations -- they even dispute the amount of time chelsey says she was in the house, claiming she only spent 36 hours total working for them. when the harrises say you're lying about this, i want to give you the chance. you categorically stand by your story. >> i stand by it. >> reporter: every detail. >> every detail. >> reporter: because it sounds pretty unbelievable. >> i know, everybody tells me that but i'm not lying about anything. >> reporter: by now, whatever the harrises did or didn't do, they say it didn't work and after all that effort to adopt the two girls, they decided just six months after adopting them tey could no longer stay in their home.

and this is after you fought and argued that you could do it. and you couldn't. not only couldn't you do it, but you gave up pretty quickly. >> well, and you can say that. but when you've done everything and used every resource they've given you, and you've worked and done what the therapists have told you, you have nowhere to go. it wasn't working. and we tried everything we could. three boys. and if people want to judge me for that, i'm sorry. you live it, then you can judge me. >> reporter: as determined now were get them in, marsha reaches out to their former adoption coordinator jan wallis, now no longer with dhs. >> i said, "we are desperate. what can we do? >> reporter: but it wouldn't be oldest sister. the clock had expired on that trial period. remember that court ruling? the harrises were now the

permanent, legal parents for the younger girls. wallis said the state would bring criminal abandonment charges if the harrises tried to give the girls back. >> and i said, "do what?" i said, "people have failed adoptions." and she said, "they're going to charge you with abandonment. they hate you. they despise you. oh, and they will charge you." >> reporter: is that true? they would've been charged with abandonment? >> there's a process that any time someone gets a child back, they are charged, but they're not always found guilty. >> reporter: and the stakes for the harrises were even higher -- you were told that not only would you be charged with abandoning these two girls. >> we would lose our own three boys. >> reporter: why would you lose your own children? >> because in the state of arkansas, being charged with abandonment you would lose your own children. >> reporter: the harrises did have one controversial option to get their girls out quickly. and they were about to take it, it certainly got their new daughters out of their family. but it would cost the harrises their reputations. >> an adoption gone wrong.

reprehensible. >> a state representative embroiled in controversy. >> reporter: and it would cost the girls much more. >> i couldn't sleep for two nights, it made me sick. it still bothers me a lot. >> reporter: stay with us. >> so, our question, what do you think of the story? do you believe it? and faced with what they say was an impossible situation, what would you do? would you get rid of your adopted children? use #abc2020. david and i will be right back. it's not. it's a sign of early gum disease... which you can help reverse by using listerine(r). added to your brushing routine... listerine(r) kills up to 99.9% of germs... and helps reverse early gum disease in just two weeks. listerine(r). power to your mouth ! also try listerine(r) floss...

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"20/20" continues with elizabeth vargas and the forever family. >> reporter: in west fork, arkansas, the population of 2,042 is about to be reduced by two. a mere six months since the harrises officially adopted their two little daughters, they have had enough. how do you tell two little

anymore?" >> well, we never said that. >> reporter: so, what did you say? >> i just simply told them, "you know, we're going to go live someplace where we feel like you can be safe, your brothers can be safe." >> reporter: but now their adoption is finalized and they can't simply return them to the state. they could be charged with child abandonment and lose custody of their three biological sons. so, instead they opt for something called "re-homing," a term borrowed from the pet adoption world. re-homing is a legal loophole in the system that basically allows adoptive parents to just give away their kids. there is virtually no vetting and no judicial court oversight. and remarkably re-homing, at that point, is legal in all 50 states. the question is, were you so naive about what it takes to raise severely traumatized children, that you naively walked in and in desperation naively got out?

like, "just get them out." >> when i was threatened with abandonment and losing my own three boys, we had no choice. >> reporter: marsha reaches out to friends. the francises, like the harrises, they look great on paper. marsha knows the mom from college. the husband, eric, was even once a teacher at the harris' preschool. >> i said, "well, here is the situation." and i told her about the girls. and she said, "well," she said, "we've been praying about it. we want to adopt." >> reporter: were you fully honest about how challenging these two girls were? >> oh, yes. but, see, they had adopted internationally three times. and they had a daughter with r.a.d. so they were very familiar with it. and they wanted to move forward. we said okay. >> reporter: but within months of moving into the francis home, an already tough situation turns tragic. the middle girl is molested by

>> an adoption gone wrong. >> reporter: the news breaks months later, when police are alerted by an anonymous tipster. >> uncovering a startleing link. >> reporter: what was your reaction? >> sickened and devastated. >> reporter: don't you think you are responsible for putting that little girl in that home where she was sexually abused? >> this guy, i looked him in the eye, he worked for the bentonville public school for five years, did fbi background checks, did safe home studies. three for international adoptions. there's no way we could've known that he was a bad guy or a pedophile. >> reporter: still, the harrises launch into damage control mode, anxious to show that the girls weren't the only victims. >> we were failed by dhs. when dhs fails adoptive parents, they fail the children even more. >> reporter: he uses the state house as his backdrop, but his

focuses mostly on the system and how it failed the harrises. justin offers few apologies. and outrages a nation. justin shutters his twitter account. but, online, people are slamming the family values legislator. and on his voicemail it's even uglier. >> you are a monster yourself. >> a disturbing story from a so-called man of god. >> reporter: that can't be easy for you. >> it's not easy. but my wife knows the truth and my three boys know the truth and what else can you do? >> reporter: you can understand, though. it sounds from the moment you

met this biological mother in a parking lot to the point where you get first one daughter, "she's too much. we send her back. we'll take these two daughters. they're too much. we give them away." it jusds like pets horrible. in hindsight, things could have, should have happened not could've. they should've. >> reporter: but the point is other foster families, local dhs officials say they said, "you're not equipped to handle these three girls and their issues." and in fact, you admit you weren't. >> elizabeth, if they said we weren't equipped for the right reasons, i would agree with that. the reason why they said we weren't equipped is because of our political beliefs.

because you weren't equipped. craig and cheryl hart, who fostered the two girls before they were handed over to the harrises, are appalled at the way things turned out. >> it still bothers me a lot. >> reporter: and you blame the harrises? >> i don't know if blame's the right word but, uh, i think that, uh, they caused it. >> reporter: do you think you did something wrong? >> no, i don't think i did anything wrong what -- >> reporter: but you have admitted you made mistakes. >> mistakes and doing something legally wrong are two different things. everybody makes mistakes. i mean, i make mistakes on a daily basis. >> reporter: but these mistakes involve the lives of three little girls. >> absolutely, they do. >> reporter: and now the state police are investigating whether those mistakes might have been crimes. coming up -- what becomes of those three little girls? let it go >> reporter: for the first time, we get to meet them. will they ever find their

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"20/20" continues, with the forever family. once again, elizabeth vargas. >> we are heartbroken by this situation. >> reporter: who is responsible for the harris adoption disaster? the state police launch two investigations. and now the harris family must confront the possibility of child abandonment and child cruelty charges. i was struck, as i read through the second state police investigation interpreting what happened, and how much your boys talked about how much they were impacted by what happened. >> it's all been hard on them. it really has. but having them go to their school and serve a court order on them, when we didn't even know we were under investigation, that really affected them very strongly. >> reporter: the state police concluded their investigations,

finding the charges of wronddoing unsubstantiated. still, this summer representative harris announced he would not run for reelection. >> at the end of the day, we knew it wasn't, you know, the best thing for the family. >> reporter: through all the trials and tribulations, no one was more affected than the little girls. and for them something you might call a small miracle has occurred. the oldest daughter, now 9, has reportedly been adopted into a family where she is doing well. as for the youngest two sisters -- now 5 and 7, they're with two new parents and two teenage sisters. see for yourself. >> okay, elsa. >> i'm a queen! >> reporter: the new mother and father asked us to conceal their identities to make sure the girls privacy will be preserved. >> my heart just went "whoosh."

them? >> there's no way to describe what happened. >> reporter: two sisters danced their way into their hearts and their family. though they want to be clear, it did take them time to adjust. >> in the beginning, she tested, is this going to be my forever home? she just said, "i know how this is going to work. you guys are not going to want to keep me, and so, i'm going to act out." and when she did, we just said, "okay, great, are you done?" let's get to the bottom of what is, what's the problem. what are you anxious about? >> reporter: did she ever actually come out and tell you, "i'm anxious you're going to be like the other families?" >> she has said that. >> yeah, 'cause for forever family, for her, she's heard it before, and it wasn't forever. >> reporter: how long did it

down in the house? >> i would say about a year. >> and this is me. super, super happy, because my first day to be adopted. this is on mommy's birthday. i colored it purple because i love purple. >> reporter: the new forever family are also devout christians. i had the opportunity to spend some time with the girls. and i am struck by how well-adjusted they seem. the middle sister, ever curious, is captivated by our cameras. interviewing me with my own microphone. >> what's your favorite color? >> reporter: i think i like green. >> why green? >> reporter: i think it is soothing. it is the color of the ocean. the sea can sometimes look bluish green. they happily put on a show for us.

let it go let it go >> reporter: they show me self portraits with smiling faces. and share their plans and dreams for the future. >> this is my orphanage. they are all going to have godly homes, because i am going to find them godly homes. >> the middle child crawled up in my lap and she said, "do you know, mama, god is going to use me to heal people." >> reporter: it is just one day, but i witness no signs of the violent, angry behavior or other r.a.d. symptoms the harrises described. >> oh, yeah, i missed you. >> reporter: what did you do differently? because the harrises are also god-fearing, god-worshipping people. >> i don't really know the harrises, so i can't speak for them. the lord showed me from the very beginning that wounded, abused little girls. that's not who they are. >> reporter: at the harris home, we see no sign of the girls who

yard, where these pink bikes and a dollhouse sit like unguarded monuments to a misguided, if well-intentioned, dream. i just want to tell you both that i spent yesterday with the two girls. and they are doing really well. is there anything that you want to know about them? >> well, there is a lot we want to know. how was their birthday? i mean, how are they doing? do they remember their mom and dad? we pray for them. we continually want the best for them. >> reporter: they seem to be flourishing. >> that's good. >> that's very good news for us. >> flourishing, in their forever family. >> we have been introduced to this song called "wanted," so, um, healing for them. >> reporter: "wanted" -- a song

you are wanted to every broken heart he stands with open arms >> they are both strong and they are both very bold and very courageous. they are overcomers, and they are fighters. you are wanted >> i was so happy to see the little girls doing so well. and before justin harris decided to retire, he voted in support of a new law that makes re-homing a felony in arkansas. >> are youfootage after someone vandalized at least 75 vehicles and hillary clinton and other democratic presidential candidates prepare to converge on iowa ahead of the jefferson-jackson dinner. kcrg-tv9 news at 10 is next.

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coming up next week on "20/20," an explosive look into the world of scientology. from leah remini and her new book. the former "king of queens" star talks about the faith she joined as a 7-year-old and only left two years ago. >> you need to understand, this has been my whole life. and i want them to understand how it happened. and as time goes on, you start to lose contact with the world. the mindset becomes, us against them. being critical of tom cruise is being critical of scientology itself. you are evil. >> if you knew that tom was watching this, what would you

say to him? >> her answer, next friday night. dan harris' explosive hour. that's "20/20" for tonight. i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas.people had their cars vandalized. and hillary clinton prepares to head to iowa, fresh off one of the best weeks in her presidential campaign. you're watching kcrg-tv9. now, from your 24 hour news source, this is kcrg-tv9 news at 10 . we now know the name of the two officers who shot and killed a man in cedar rapids earlier this week. today, the division of criminal investigation interviewed officers lucas jones and bryson garringer. officer jones has been with the department

since 20-11. and officer