tonight on "nightline," the virgin miracles. does the virgin mary work miracles on earth today? thousands have no doubt making a pilgrimage to a place where they believe he's been appearing the last 30 years. tonight, their dramatic encounter. offenders at large. per captivating survival story has exposed how shockingly easy it is for convicted sexual predators to slip you will the net. tonight, an exclususe hidden camera investigation into a depraved sexual under world, where predators roam free. and generation tv. ♪ it's the story ♪ of a man named brady >> they're some of the most

beloved shows of all time. ♪ sit right back and hear a tale ♪ >> the hits that changed everything. so, what makes us love to watch? >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia madden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," july 12th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. do you believe in miracles? well, the latest pew poll says that nearly 80% of americans do. and among the most fervent believers are those who say the virgin mary, the mother of jesus christ, appears and intervenes in lives regularly. even here in the united states. tomorrow night, my colleague bill weir has a special "primetime nightline" report examining those accounts. among the places he visits, alabama, wisconsin and a village in eastern europe where hundreds of thousands have gathered this summer hoping to visit something beyond belief.

>> reporter: driving along the stunning coastline of the former yugoslavia, it's no surprise this has become one of the hottest tourist destinations anywhere. but turning inland, through out of the way farm land, it's stunning to think that nearly 40 million people have made this trek, all because they believe the virgin mary has been appearing here, regularly, for the past 30 years. it all began in the early '80s, when six children claimed to see and hear from the mother of jesus on a rocky hill behind their village. in the days that followed, the six would fall to their needs with eerie synchronicity, claiming to see the same 19-year-old dark-haired, blue-eyed woman. they claim each wasiven a specialty by mary, and this one is known as the healer.

her name is visca. three days a week, the sick, the frail and their loved ones crowd her street, hoping for a glimpse, a word or best of all, a touch. for many, this is a return trip. florita was here 21 years ago, but time, she needs a miracle. she's battling stage four cancer. >> i do believe that the only one that can heal, really, is jesus. but there are people, some are visionary, who can pray for you. and they will be results that you cannot imagine will happen. >> reporter: we watch for three hours as visca attending to the

pilgrims. >> hello. >> reporter: eventually, i'm led into her childhood home. the decor hasn't changed much since the 1980s, when she had mast of her visions of mary in this room. >> translator: before our lady appears, i see a flash three times. that's how i know. >> reporter: do you have a conversation? does she talk to you? what happens? >> translator: it's like you and i are having a nversation. >> reporter: really? >> translator: just the same thing. >> reporter: wow. and does she -- this sounds odd, but does she tell jokes? >> translator: not really. those times are not for jokes. >> translato >> reporter: do you believe mary gave you the power to perform miracles? >> translator: i don't do miracles. we know who does miracles. there are people who have been healed, but it's not because of me. it's because of god. >> reporter: what do you say to someone whwhdoesn't believe that

you are having these, that you what do you tell them?ings. >> translator: i love both believers and nonbelieiers. not different at all to me. god gave us freedom to decide. >> reporter: if you decide not to believe, there are only a few explanations for all of this. the first theory is that they are acting. but none seem to be exploiting their gift for lavish profit, so, there is the possibility that they are seeing something. not from heaven, but their own brains. over the last 30 years, several researchers have tried to prove it, poking and proddinin them dudung visions. the studies have been inconclusive. but in the world of neuro theology, thereris a lot that defies explanation. >> it may be difficult to differentiate ah ha lose nation

from something that's real. if you see an automobile visually and you imagine an automobile, then, the brain is going to activate a lot of the same basic areas. >> reporter: but what about the millions of people who claim their own super natural experiences? reports of rosaries turning gold, stories of the sun spinning across the sky? and those that believe the mysterious fluid weeping from the knee of a met call crucifix is a sign from above? where does this faith come from? >> well, we certainlylynow there are differences in the brain between people who are religious and those people who are not. and that implies that will are people who would be more likely to be predisposed to having religious beliefs compared to those who don't. >> now and at the hour of our death, amen. >> reporter: outside visca's house, word comes florita been invited to meet the healer.

>> i love her so much. i love her so much. >> reporter: a man whisks her through the crowd. onto the terrace. and into her prayer room. no telling if any of this will heal her stage four breast cancer, but for 30 precious minutes, she seems to enjoy pure religious ecstasy. while outside, a sea of faces looks up, hoping for just a taste of the same. >> the power of prayer. we'll tell you what happened to florita and bring you the story of miracle seekers right here in america's heartland, tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. on "primetime nightline" beyond belief. just ahead, her story is inspiring. but it also exposes shocking

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> it was an amazing and inspirational television experience. jaycee dugard in an exclusive interview sunday with abc's diane sawyer, told her harrowing story of being held camive for 1 years by a sex offender. jaycee's hope and strength shone through in that program, but the story is also enraging. her about doc abductor had don e for a prior sex offense so, how could he and other sex offenders like him be allowed to strike

again and again? here's abc's dan harris, as "nightline" investigates. >> reporter: of all the horrors of jaycee dugard's 18-year ordeal in captivity, there is none more outrageous than the jaw-dropping incompetence of the parole officials. >> i actually talked to one off the agents andhe agent proceeded to give phillip his urine test and left. that made me feel like, didn't really care. >> reporter: officials visited the garrido home no fewer than 60 times, oblivious to the fact that dugard was being kept in the backyard just feet away. >> there was not a day that i didn't cry. i felt like there would never, ever be a day when i didn't cry again. >> reporter: even worse, the fiasco is not isolated. in fact, of thth more than 700,000 sex offenders in america right now who are supposed to be monitored, 100,000 are missing.

consider the case of admitted pedophile michael dodd. >> nan, do you love me? this girl's a ten. i can put the whole thing in my mouth and i love it. >> reporter: it's a case that givens the example of how easy it is for a convicted sex offender to slip through the cracks. dodd's story started in 2001, where he was teaching and abusing the kids at this elementary school. >> they would be alone together in a classroom and the child would be reading and that's the time when he would molest them. >> reporter: in total, 18 children, all first and third graders, came forward. dodd got ten years. but after less than five years behind bars,he parole board figured he'd served enough time. even though the parole board imposed tough conditions, including a 6:00 p.m. t 6:00 a.m. curfew and a rule against being with children, the chief

made a stunning decision. allowing dodd to move to florida, where none of those conditions would apply. so, dodd settled into this house in suburban orlando. right across the street in a house filled with kids. the grandchildren of this woman, jennifer roberts. so, he called the little girl over? >> yep. she was talking down the street and he called her into the yard. he had a little puppy with him. mymyusband said, we better call the police. >> reporter: the police came and spoke to dodd, but did not put him on supervision, claiming they lacked the legal authority to do so. that seems like, if i were a parent, i'd be worried. >> o o i'm a parent. and it is scary. >> reporter: if you raised your hand, said, this guy was on hard core parole a week ago, now he's here, who would you have raised your hand to? how could you have sounded the alarm? >> i don't even know. >> i don't know if you wanted to get any -- >> reporter: dodd's case was about to get worse. about a year after getting out of prison, he decided to move to

syracuse, new york. judy was hisase manager at this homeless shelter. >> there was a child out on the corner, a young child out here that he told me he wanted to approach. >> reporter: she says she got truly alarmed when a few months later, dodd showed her a plane ticket to cambodia, where he said he had a job teaching english to children. >> i notified parole, i said, this is when he's leaving. we really need to do something. 's saying he's going to cambodia to work with students. >> reporter: michael dodd touched down in cambodia, he hit the ground running. free of any law enforcement supervision whatsoever, he set about trying to protier the sexual services of a 14-year-old girl. they played ban minton together, but dodd was eager for some adult recreation. >> when i kiss her, i feel like i'm kissing a statue, because there's no response. she's just like a limp pillow. >> reporter: here he is,

complaining that the girl needs to be affectionate. dodd didn't know it, but the man who he thinks is his friend is an undercover agent, which provided us with the recordings. in october of 2008, ten months after he arrived and more than two years after he got out of prison, cambodian police, working with the fbi, swooped in and arrested dodd for molesting this 14-year-old girl. months later, dodd stood trial in cambodia and as he left court, we confronted him. how can you be in love with her? you are roughly 60. she's very young. >> well, look at this, you know, our previous generation before we were born, b bore they made the age limit. it wasn't -- i'm sorry.

>> reporter: he was sentenced to ten years in prison. in february of last year, dodd was finally brought back to america by the fbi to stand trial here. but late last year, even though a judge said it was one of the most disgusting cases he'd ever seen, dodd was given another plea deal. he will be out of prison in nine years, at age 68. and the judge who sentenced him says he is quite sure dodd will offend again. for "nightline," this is dan harris. [ male announcer ] we asked real people right off the street to help us with an experiment for the febreze set & refresh. they agreed. [ facilitator ] take a deep breath. what do you smell? there's a freshness. actually it t kes me outdoors. sort of a crisp, fresh feeling. it's a friendly environment. [ facilitator ] go ahead and take your blindfold off. [ laughs ] no... [ male announcer ] the febreze set & refresh with scented oils that eliminate odors for 30 days

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okay, name that tv show. a group of castaways is stuck on an island. they must work together to survive, but secret plots,s, ev mild sexual tension, make for constant chaos. what is it? you might have said "survivor." but maybe you remembered an older show from the 1960s. "gill began's island." here's john berman to remember the creator of some of history's most beloved tv. >> reporter: the world is short a genius tonight. a generation minus a caregiver. this face might not mean much to you, but his ideas -- they meant everything. ♪ here's the story ♪ of a lovely lady >> reporter: you might say sherwood schwartz was cindy's father. and jan's, and marsha's. he was the creator of "the brady bunch" in 1969. before that show's indelible five-year run, he was responsible for an equally indelible three-hour tour.

♪ the skipper brave an sure >> reporter: yes, sherwood schwartz created "gilligan's island," too. the shows brought nice, easy lavs and laugh tracks. even if it was a little economy si. >> go out and count to ten. >> can i count to ten by five? >> reporte >> critics didn't love the shows. these were very simple, not quite surreal but very silly shows. but they created a very real world to me as a kid that i wanted to be in. >> reporter: at the time, neither was a ratings smash, but their legend wasn't made at the time. but after. these shows were syndication sensations. airing for hours upon hours every day after school, so even those of us not alive or barely alive during these first runs could feel the pain of marsha's nasal difficulties.

>> hey, you guys. oh, my nose! >> reporter: and see the strain on jan's middle childsyndrome. >> marsha, marsha, marsha. >> reporter: but even more than that, for kids, these shows were cacagivers. the original supernannies. >> i really upset my parents because i said that i wanted mrs. brady to be my mom. >> reporter: doing simple math, say kids like me watched 1.4 hours of "gilligan's island" and the bradys over a five year span. that's 2100 hours of entertainment and supervision provided by sherwood schwartz. he passed away in california this morning. he was 94. on behalf of generations of kids, let us say thank you. thank you for all of those afternoons. we miss them always. i'm john berman for "nightline" in new york. >> s srwood schwartz. he entertained us. thank you for watching abc news.