>> jimmy: i want to thank matthew fox, radha mitchell, 50 cent & fred armisen. apologies to matt damon, we ran out of time. tomorrow night terrence howard, the cast of "duck dynasty" and music from churchill. thanks for watching. "nightline" is next. good night. tonight on a special edition of "nightline," the virgin trade. girls as young as 14 being bought and sold on the cheap in bars run by americans overseas. hour team goes undercover in the shadowing corner of commerce where tourists trade cash for sex. is it a high stakes international sting and we are there as authorities try to bust it. it is innocence for sale. a six-month investigation

revealing a shocking truth. american dollars are funding this diabolical trade. >> a special edition of

from new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline." >> good evening i'm bill weir. for those who plan their vacations around spas or theme parks it might bring a queasy shock to find an alarming number of people plan their vacation around the flesh of young children. children are bought and sold in countries for the average sex tourist. americans are not only buying, some are also selling. but little do they know the authorities are also watching even over there. alex waterfield takes us to the

philippines and take us inside the raid. >> reporter: tonight in a far flung part of the philippines, arthur benjamin is in a good mood. >> all the girls around i'm good. >> reporter: laughing, drinking ogling the girls on stage at this bar which he says he owns. benjamin is a 49-year-old american suspected of having sex with underage girls and suspected of selling them for sex out of this bar called crowbar. but he has no idea that at that moment, filipino and american authorities are just a few miles away plotting a raid that will bring his world crashing down. >> we're ready. >> reporter: this is the story of arthur benjamin who travelled to subic bay, a beautiful part of the philippines where

benjamin has been living for 25 years. but our journey went into the dark and disturbing world of underage prostitution finding how easy it is to buy sex with underage girls. how old are you? >> 14. >> reporter: it is a top destination for americans not just looking to have sex but to sell sex as well. >> about 4 third and 00 girls working for me. and they go all night for 30 bucks. >> the americans want to come here because they perceive it is easier to operate here than in the united states be. you they are sadly mistaken. >> reporter: eric mcloughlin is with the customs enforcement department. he teamed up with a local non-profit organization called preda which has been gathering evidence for months.

>> it's my job to determine if the allegations are accurate. if they are accurate we will hold them accountable. >> reporter: we want to meet benjamin and see for ourselves what is going on inside that bar. so producer alex waterfield and i put on these tiny hidden cameras that look like shirt buttons and head down to a run down part of town to benjamin's bar and don't know what to expect. around a dozen young women are milling around, including this one. what is your name? >> princess. >> reporter: princess is one of the most popular girls in the bar. she is just 16 years old. >> do you like to pick them up? >> reporter: it's not long before princess and another girl are offered to us. 1500 pesos. just under $40. mama lucy is called a mama-san. she manages the girls.

we decline her offer but she calls benjamin to come meet us. >> come sit at the bar so we look -- >> within minutes the 6'6" texan tells us about his sex life and business. >> my wife found out i have this place. >> reporter: a former waitress wrote to his wife on facebook. >> she sent this thing saying i have [ bleep ] [ bleep ] i own a bar, i've got other girls. and all this other crap. all of which is true. i have to deny. >> reporter: oblivious to our hidden cameras, benjamin says he has a 16-year-old girlfriend who lives in the house out back. >> she is a tiny dark skinned girl she needed a place to stay and i needed a place to do her.

i bought a bar for her. >> she is so young we are blurring her face to protect her identity. >> her name is jade. we can't find anything like this in the states. a guy my age. not going to happen. i can have anything i want any time i want. i'm going to hell. i know. >> reporter: benjamin's declaration is so stunning we felt we had to alert eric mcloughlin but he says building a case requires more evidence. >> this guy is saying on tape i have had sex with underage girls repeatedly that is not enough? >> no. as investigators we have to prove these acts occur. me just saying it is not enough. >> reporter: the key might be this 18-year-old girl marisol. until december she worked at benjamin's bar. she has come to the preda

center, the non-profit that began to track benjamin. she identifies four girls who are underage including the one we met, princess. why did you decide to tell your story? >> translator: i felt hopeless working in the bar, she says that my friend the minors feel the same way. i wanted to tell my story and to save them. >> reporter: benjamin isn't is only american capitalizing on the demand. many in this long string of bars in subic bay are owned or managed by americans. many are military veterans. >> they have eight bars all foreign owned. marines, army. it's well organized. just don't understand the magnitude of what we've got going on here. >> reporter: subic bay was home to a u.s. naval base for 50 years, providing a boon to the

prostitution industry. >> it's going to feed their whole family for weeks. [ bleep ] enjoy it, man. don't get too wrapd up in your head about it. >> reporter: to see how easy it is for americans to find underaged girls we visited a neighboring town 45 minutes from subic bay. it takes less than half an hour before we are approached by this woman who offers not just young girls but virgins. how many girls do you have? and for each one it is $750. we will talk about it and maybe come back and see you. later that night we meet the woman and the girls near a busy intersection. how old are you? 15. and you? 14. you're in school. what grade are you in? second. so eighth grade.

you look very nervous. don't be scared. it's okay. this is your aunt? >> yeah. >> this is your aunty. she loves you? >> yeah. very much. >> why is she asking you to do this? >> because, you know, we need money, that's why. >> they just give to the filipino man who don't have job, lazy. it's -- >> reporter: that was incredibly disturbing. they were both so young and so easy for us to find them. we said no thank you and walked away. when we come back -- >> crowbar. that's it. we have to be fluid and fast. >> reporter: authorities decide to make the final move on arthur benjamin. >> i want to see your hands, sit down. >> reporter: but there "l" they have enough evidence to arrest him?

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we're back now on this special edition of "nightline." just as international authorities are closing in on the american man they believe is buying and selling young girls in a remote corner of the philippines. here with more of the raid here is alex. >> reporter: i'm on the phone with arthur benjamin a 49-year-old texan suspected of pimping out underage girls from his bar in the philippines called crowbar.

he has no idea that right now authorities are closing in on him. we make plans to meet up one last time before the raid. over coffee in broad daylight he tells us how he met his 16-year-old girlfriend, jade. >> she was hungry. >> reporter: we met her two days ago at his bar. if there is something i don't like i [ bleep ] her out. there is always another one. he. >> reporter: he tells us how with the help of mama-san lucy underage girls work for him. >> she is a master at it. she has a lot of girls working for him. >> reporter: and how they avoided trouble when authorities stopped by the bar. >> lucy showed them all the paperwork which is in order some creatively. they will get their older

sister's birth certificate. >> reporter: just down the road at the preda center, shay cullen has been given word that the raid has been given a green light. six months of investigating have come down to this. a team of investigators working with father shay have booked a fake bachelor party at crowbar to guarantee that benjamin will be there. i've been invited to be a guest to be inside as it goes down. we head inside and the party gets into full swing. but, no benjamin. mama lucy is there. you organized all the girls for tonight? >> yes. >> reporter: and so is 1-year-old princess who just got braces. after 45 tense minutes, benjamin finally shows up. >> i hate my job.

>> reporter: even jade briefly makes an appearance. he has no idea that at that very moment -- >> we want to maximize the people we rescue -- >> reporter: american i.c.e. agents, and government social workers have gathered to go over the final plan for the raid. >> they will be all gone if we don't make a move there. >> reporter: after a long and chaotic meeting it's time to move out. >> we're ready. let's do it. coming up here on the left. the bar is up here on the left. crowbar. that's it. that's it. stop, stop. get out. go. >> no talking. quiet. >> reporter: benjamin looks stunned. at first he doesn't move. the girls are herded into one corner of the bar. >> sit down. i want to see your hands number

talking. >> reporter: none of the girls admit to being under age. dentists start examining their teeth. benjamin tries to slip out but is blocked by a filipina agent. that's when we decide to reveal our identity. you told us you had underage sex with multiple girls and they work in this bars. what do you say now? >> i do not have sex with underage girls. >> you never had sex with underage girls and if none work here why did you tell us that? >> it's just talk. >> you're just bragging? >> pretty much. >> reporter: you just showed us your girlfriend. >> i don't have a girlfriend. >> your girlfriend, jade doesn't exist? >> nope. >> reporter: we tell him everything is on hidden camera. >> does that change anything?

princess y princess cowers in the corners. >> is benjamin a good man or an evil man? >> he's a good man. >> it's not like the movies. we're not greeted with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. a lot of times they view us as the enemy. they have been here for a while and trying to get them comfortable enough to talk to us and we are here to help them. it's a challenge. >> reporter: an after hour the authorities have enough to arrest benjamin. >> but why? what did i do? >> for hiding minors. >> there's no minors here. >> where? >> let's go now. >> there are no minors. okay, fine. i'll go with you. >> reporter: were you surprised at his demeanor and how calm he was? >> we see that a lot. kind of shock. and feels surreal right now. he'll go to sleep soundly and

realize what happened tomorrow. he is in for it. >> reporter: we have one last chance to speak with benjamin. six hours ago when the evening started did you think it would end like this? >> no. you were a nice guy. and now i find out you're an [ bleep ]. >> what do you think should happen to you? >> they should let me go and talk to me later when i am around. >> what do you think is going to happen? >> they're going to take me to manila and it will be a pain in the ass. >> bye. >> you said your number two was -- >> bye. >> deny it all? >> absolutely. >> when we come back, as benjamin is driven away to a manila jail there is fighting over where the girls will go and uncertainty over what is next for them. ♪

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tonight's show's brought you inside the sinister world of trading young girls for cash and one man's tireless crusade to stop it. but for the girls being taken away from the bars doesn't always mean being saved. >> reporter: with arthur benjamin arrested the attention turns to the girls from his bar. 16-year-old princess is in a van with the others. >> do you think you'll go back to working in the bars? no. you're done? >> the authorities and father shay cullen argue about where to take the girls who need to see social workers. father shay has dedicated his life to saving young boys and girls. he got the authorities to carry out the raid on benjamin's bar. >> you don't look relieved. >> no, this is our work.

>> reporter: amid the confusion there is also anger. >> are you anger at benjamin? >> no. >> reporter: these young women, their livelihoods have been taken away. >> how would you provide food if it is sell your body or starve to death. when you ask that same question it's heart breaking. >> are the authorities doing enough to stop this? >> they are doing very, very little. there are some dedicated people. they have no budgets or money. >> reporter: princess who gave us permission to show her face is staying in a government facility working with social workers. so are four others from the bars. marisol who led father shay to benjamin says she is never going back to the bars and wants to start a new life. 16-year-old jade is nowhere to be found. authorities found her house behind the bar empty. as massive as this problem is,

father shay is optimistic. >> give up is not in our vocabulary. we have all these children to save and we give them a new life and a great start in the future. we have a good organization here. and we will keep on. we'll never give up. >> reporter: in subic bay in the philippines. >> arthur benjamin remains in jail held without bail as filipino authorities determine charges. and our thanks to you for watching abc news. check in with our friends at "good morning america." and we are always online at abcnews.com. see you back here tomorrow night.