this is "nightline." >> tonight, breaking news. the former ceo and billionaire sam b sam bankman-fried arrested in the bahamas. plus, horror behind bars. >> it is hard to make a positive turnaround when you are being subjected to sexual abuse. >> hundreds seeking justice under a new law. survivors have one year to take action. >> suing new york state, accusing prison guards of sexual abuse. >> this is about another phase of the me too movement. it's time for marginalized women to have their voices heard. >> is this the first wave of

similar lawsuits across the country? and royal rift. >> we're happy to lie to protect my brother. they were never willing to tell truth to protect us. >> the ongoing drama of house of windsor now streaming online for millions. harry and meghan making headlines in a new docuseries. >> i wasn't being thrown to the wolves. i was being fed to the wolves. >> and facing backlash. >> for them, it shows the degree of callousness. >> is it too late to mend fences? >> "nightline" will be right back. when do you spray febreze air? after every flush. in my kitchen, febreze tackles my toughest odors. after vacuuming, because fresh means clean. i spray every chance i get. starts working instantly to freshen any room. febreze air. suffering from sinus congestion, especially at night? try vicks sinex starts working instantly to freshen any room. for instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours. vicks sinex targets congestion at the source, relieving nasal congestion and sinus pressure

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good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin tonight with breaking news. samuel bankman-fried, the former ceo of the bankrupt crypto exchange ftx was arrested in the bahamas today. this after federal prosecutors in new york filed criminal charges in a sealed indictment. a source familiar with the charges told abc news that bankman-fried is facing a multicount fraud indictment. this just one month after the company filed for chapter 11 after once being valued at $32 billion. the exact charges are expected to be revealed tomorrow when the 30-year-old is due in court. bankman-fried is expected tock extradited back to the u.s. we turn now to what some are

calling a new phase in the me too movement. a new york state law that allows for survivors of sexual abuse and assaults to seek justice in civil court, regardless when the crime occurred. hundreds of former prison inmates coming forward. here is my "nightline" co-anchor juju chang. >> i have to have my skates. this is necessary. skating is kind of like freedom. it's how i breathe. it's how i find my center. it is the ultimate freedom. >> reporter: four wheels under each foot, and mia wheeler is unstoppable. committed to fighting for her future after years of trauma behind bars. >> prior to going to prison, i always assumed that prison was for rehabilitation. it's hard to make a positive turnaround when you are being subjected to sexual abuse. it plays on your mental. it takes your focus off of everything. >> reporter: wheeler says she was in her 20s when she was assaulted repeatedly by a prison guard in new york's bedford

hills correctional facility. >> when he would walk past my cubicle, nobody was there, it was meal time, he would peek in and say hey, you know what time it is. >> what did he mean by that? >> that it was time to have sex, time for me to perform a sex act on him. >> tell me about how this affected you. >> physically repulsed and turned off, but doing the acts, just having to tune out. i mean, at any point where you refuse, it could be worse or turn violent. i just wanted it to be over. >> you were afraid this could escalate? >> the only thing i knew is as long as i come home, i can bury it. get out of prison, get off of parole, and go on with your life. that's it. >> do whatever it takes to survive? >> absolutely. >> now almost 20 years after leaving prison, wheeler gets a chance to have her day in court, thanks to new york state's adult survivors act. the new law that opens a

one-year window for victims of sexual abuse to file lawsuits in civil court against their abusers, regardless of when the allged crimes took place. >> this is a matter of equity and fairness for those adult survivors of sexual abuse. >> state senator brad hoileman sponsored the legislation. >> the adult survivors act allows adult survivors of sexual abuse another opportunity at justice, since most of them were not able to file claims within the very short statute of limitations that has existed in new york for the better part of a century. >> the funds to pay for these suits would likely come from new york's $157 million annual budget for judgment against the state. >> survivors have one year to take action. >> it doesn't matter if it was your coach. >> your cabdriver. >> your doctor. >> we all deserve a chance at justice. >> everyone, including those behind bars.

>> victims no more! >> mia is now among at least 900 former inmates who have come forward saying they were allegedly sexually abused in state prisons. >> i was raped, impregnate bade correction officer. >> i would like to see those officers brought up on charges. >> reporter: civil rights attorney ben trump is teaming up with law firm slater, slater schulman who famously won cases against the catholic church and the boy scouts. >> they are thousands of women who have been incarcerated, who have suffered in silence for decades. and so we're trying to say come forward. you will be heard. you can speak your truth. your voice will not be silenced. but it's hard, juju, because black women, many of them just have no faith that the system is going to do right by them. >> mia is now asking for $20 million in damages for the pain and suffering, injuries and

expenses she sustained as a result of the alleged abuses. new york state requires a monetary claim for all damages. >> this is about another phase of the me too movement. it's time for marginalized women to have their voices heard. >> yeah. >> psychotherapist teresa taylor often works with trauma survivors of color. what do you say to a critic that might say well, this is going to cost the state a lot of money, and why can't we just let the past be the past? >> what's the cost of a life that's been broken? that's what i would say back to them. >> reporter: a broken life. mia's otherwise idyllic childhood interrupted by family tragedy. >> one of those major points that changed my life would be the death of my brother. >> how old were you at the time? >> 11. and he was 15. my mother was in trouble. so for the while that she grieved, unhealthily grieving, i was kind of left to my own

vices. i made poor decisions. i made poor choices. >> convicted on drug-related charges, wheeler was in and out of prison for years. >> people are human. we will make mistakes. we will have to correct our mistakes. but in that, i don't feel like we have to be abused, used, or dig dated. >> wheeler's lawsuit claims no amount of saying no stopped the guard from repeatedly forcing her to have sex. >> it's almost destroyed me. see, you never really know the anger that can build up, that feeling of not being in control, the feeling of feeling less than, holding a dark secret and not being able to tell anybody. it's ruined my life. >> u.s. federal law and nearly all state, including new york criminalize any sexual relations between staff and inmates.

in a statement to abc news, the new york department of corrections and community supervision refused to comment on possible or pending litigation, but said in part doccs has zero tolerance for sexual abuse, sexual harassment and unauthorized relationships. the department thoroughly investigates all reports of sexual victimization, including unauthorized relationship and retaliation against any individuals who report incidents or cooperate with those investigations. >> the allegations are extremely troubling because it shows a real betrayal. these women behind bars were completely disempowered. they had no agency to consent to anything. >> this isn't the first time the state is facing allegations of sexual abuse in its prisons. in 1985, the doj reviewed the now closed bayview correctional facility and recommended

creating a task force to assign as many women guards as possible, sensitivity training for officers, and continuous monitoring of guards. >> they told them what was going on and told them policies to correct it, and the state of new york, like many other states just ignored the experiences that these women were going through. >> wheeler says sharing her story is just the first step in seeking justice. >> i could not continue to be a complete woman, a broken person, a hurt soul because hurt people hurt people. it's freezing outside. >> even now at home, after all those years, the pain still lingers. years of lost time hard to forget. >> this is my daughter, my one and only. she was a pip-squeak in that photo. my family stuck with me through so much.

>> as did old friends like siobahn. >> happy time. >> jimmy: mia now works in the kitchen at a local restaurant, and is now picking up some new recipes. >> okay. so tap them a little. and if they close back up, they're in the game. >> and when life flashes back to those painful memories, mia puts her wheels on. when you hear about this idea that your voice will not be silenced, that you get your day in court, what does that mean to you? >> it means that other women won't fall victim. it means that change can be enacted. this is for all of the women who suffered in silence. we suffer no more.

>> our thanks to juju. victims must make their claims in civil court. so far no criminal charges have been filed. up next, royal rift. the revelations and backlash from the new harry and meghan docuseries. did you know one of nissan's evs survived the north pole? ♪ and one can go 0-60 in 2.8 seconds... ♪ and they're all emission free. but don't get an ev for the “e”... ♪ get it because it pins you to your seat... ♪ sparks your imagination... and takes your breath away... nissan evs aren't just electric, they electrify you. ♪ this isn't charmin! no wonder i don't feel as clean. here's the new charmin ultra strong. ahhh! my bottom's been saved! with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort.

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docuseries. >> this is a great love story. and the craziest thing is i think this love story is only just getting started. >> it was supposed to be a fairy tale for the ages, the dashing british prince meets the stunning hollywood actress. a royal romance that quickly became something else entirely. >> she sacrificed everything that she ever knew, the freedom that she had to join me in my world. and then pretty soon after at, that i know to join her in her world. >> the royal family reeling this morning after harry and meghan's announcement that they want to step back as senior members of the royal family. >> we could be seeing a redefinition of what it means to be royal. >> this is a story that people in britain know very well. we've been following this for the last three years. you won't find many people in

this country who are not familiar already with the sussexes having stepped back and their reasons for doing that. >> but beyond the headlines exist another side of the story. now for the first time, three months after the death of queen elizabeth, the duke and duchess of sussex, prince harry and meghan markle are telling that art of the story, in "harry & meghan." a six-part netflix. >> it's the same for prince harry. and so what i think we've seen is this couple kind of letting us in more than they ever have done before. thinking documentary shows their love story. and you really feel that when you watch it. you see that they're very much genuinely in love. >> what we have here is the prince wanting to protect the woman that he fell in love with. and that's kind of a fairy tale that we always want to watch in movies. it's come to life. >> the first three episodes of the series dropped last week

with few accusations by the couple. but a new trailer which dropped today, final three episodes hints at some explosive allegations may be on the horizon. >> they were happy to lie to protect my brother. they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us. >> i wasn't being thrown to the wolves. i was being fed to the wolves. >> the royals have not commented on the netflix series. the series claims it reached out to the royal family for comment. the royals have refuted that claim. so far the series has created mixed reactions, particularly in the uk. some supporting harry and meghan. others criticizing the couple's motivations. >> so my opinion, it was so one-sided, it shouldn't have been allowed to give the impression of being a documentary, which is fair and proper and accurate. >> so far i think this documentary is far less critical and far less explosive than things that the sussexes have done and said before. >> the series part of an extensive media effort built by

the sussexes in the last three years, which includes archetypes, meghan's podcast on spotify. >> my podcast about the labels and tropes thatry the hold women back. >> and prince harry's upcoming memoir "spare." all in the aftermath of the couple's highly publicized decision in 2020 to step down as working members of the royal family and ultimately move to the united states. >> the decision that i have made for my wife and i to step back is not one i made lightly. it was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. and i know i haven't always gotten it right. but as far as this goes, there really was no other option. >> in the series, the sussexes begin to unravel what they say are some of the more unseemly aspects of life in the royal spotlight. in particular, meghan and her mother recounting the racism she faced after she began dating prince harry. >> i said to her, i remember this very clearly, this is about

race. and meg said mommy, i don't want to hear that. you may not want to hear it, but this is what's cop do you think the pike. >> no matter how hard i tried, no matter how good i was, no matter what i did, they were still going to find a way to destroy me. >> we know that when meghan entered the house of windsor, her race suddenly became part of the conversation. >> i think what the documentary did very well is it kind of put it all together in a way that makes it kind of undeniable to say that there weren't any racial undertones in the reporting, and to say that she wasn't treated differently when you're confronted with all that evidence. it's very blindingly obvious that she was treated differently because of her race. >> the series also standing out for its candor from a british prince, coming from an institution not known for transparency. harry speaking candidly about

his mother, princess diana, and the challenges they faced as a young family. >> the majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi. >> watching the documentary, you can see how much princess diana not only shapes prince harry's childhood, but continues to shape his life from beyond. i don't think i'm alone in saying when i watched that docuseries, coy imagine diana saying good on you, because that's exactly how she would have tackled this situation they're in as well. >> all the while a rift continues between the royal siblings william and harry. >> i think that prince william and catherine already feel betrayed about what harry is doing. you always help the brothers wll reconcile. but the reality is they've both moved on. and up next, doggy scoop. why this police dog may be man's best shovel. we love our new home. there's so much space.

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