thanks for watching it was heart-breaking. one of the most powerful stories we've ever done. a "dateline" investigation that uncovered an ugly secret. children bought and sold like property for sex. our story helped put some of the predators behind this behind bars.

and these little girls, wait till you learn what's happened now. we journey back to see how their lives have changed. >> my wife was in tears. we sold our house, quit my job. >> one person can make a difference in this world. you're about to see how. "children for sale." >> thanks for joining us. i'm ann curry. it is a crime that's difficult to see and even more difficult to stop. children so young, some could be in kindergarten, being sold for sex. for years now, we've been reporting on this heart-breaking type of slavery. predators half a world away can gain easy access to children for a handful of cash. our investigation has helped put some people in jail, but now you'll see it's also helped do something else. give these children a chance at a new life. here is chris hanson. >> to a foreign tourist this

cambodian village may look like a typical sleepy town. a few outdoor cafes. farm animals in the alleys. and friendly children. even though these girls appear to be happy, they have little to celebrate. they are child sex slaves. >> trapped in brothels where they are exploited, abused and raped by the adults around them. the disgrace of a nation, the shame of the world. it's a tragedy our undercover cameras first exposed in march 2003. five years ago we came to cambodia to investigate the sale of children for sex. what we found was absolutely horrifying. children as young as 5 years old

being trafficked to europeans and americans for as little as $30. this is one of the girls we met back in 2003. her name is lam. she should be in elementary school. instead, she'sing with offered for sex. tonight we are going to tell you the moving story of lam and other girls like her. tao, who says she is also 10 and some who are even younger. yau. and this little girl ting. when we first meet these girls in 2003 we are in cambodia under cover. we hear this country is a magnet for people who prey on the young and innocent, who travel from thousands of miles away, so-called sex tourists. we decided to follow their trail and infiltrate their perverted world.

it's the only way to expose their crimes, crimes the whole world abhors. >> this is a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable. >> president bush's administration turned to people like gary hougan, who runs a human rights group called the international justice mission. >> this is the brutal ugliness that is hard to open your eyes to. once you do, i think as a human being you've got to take responsibility for it. >> his group uses tactics considered controversial by some in the human rights community. >> you run a sting operation. >> sure. we go and use the traditional techniques of undercover police work to be able to expose the horrific abuse and nightmare that goes on in the back, in the darkness of these places around the world.

>> he sends his investigators undercover to get evidence of sex slavery in other countries, then takes the evidence to local authorities to persuade them to take action. their work has helped rescue more than 1,000 women and children around the world, including these women from a dungeon in india. >> you can hear about it, you can hear big statistics about it. until you actually meet one of these victims and sit down with her and hear her story and endure eye contact with a girl who endured some of this, it's pretty hard to imagine. this is not a little problem. this is not some bizarre little thing that's off in a remote part of the world. it's an epidemic. i think it's actually the ugliest, most preventible man-made disaster on our globe today. >> it's 2003. his target is cambodia. our "dateline" team is going along with his investigators.

we find a nation still suffering from the trauma of the 1970s and '80s, when an estimated 2 million cambodians died because of war, famine and a ruthless dictatorship. but there are also signs of recovery here. more tourists, for instance, like jerry, a doctor from oklahoma our camera crew meets up with in the heart of the cambodian capital. he says he likes the country so much he visits several times a year. >> the cambodian people have been most welcome and courteous at all times. and they've got some of the most remarkable architectural finds here. most note think the temples. >> it's not only the legendary temples that draw dr. album to cambodia. with our undercover cameras, we soon find out like other

thousands of tourists, he is here for another purpose. this is martini's, a night club where young women outnumber men 10-1. many of the women for sale. it's also a favorite hangout of dr. album, as we witness more than once during our stay. even though prostitution is illegal in cambodia, finding a girlfriend for the night at martini's takes a few words, a few dollars and a stroll out of the door. the action at martini's pales compared with what else we see in this country. everyone here seems to know about the child sex trade. even this motor bike taxi driver right outside our hotel. he offered to show us. >> many, many girls. >> young girls. >> how lounge? >> 12, no problem? >> no problem in cambodia.

>> but children being sold for sex is a big problem in cambodia. thousands of them condemned early on to a life of slavery. is there a way to help any of them escape that dismal fate? we are about to find out as we take you inside a a dangerous mission to rescue the children. >> a village of brothels filled with terrified young girls for sale. so what's that american doctor we met doing here? çñ

march 2003. a "dateline" producer and cameramen are undercover in cambodia, posing as tourists looking to have sex with children. a human rights investigator we'll call robert is acting as their sex tour guide. he's a police detective from new zealand. we agreed to protect his identity.

>> as far as anyone here was concerned, i'm a sex tour operator or broker who is coming here on behalf of a lot of wealthy westerners, in particular, american men, and i'm here to set up this sex experience for them. he has a cell phone number. >> robert has developed local contacts who know where to go and who to see. all it takes is a quick phone call from this man to arrange a visit to a brothel in phnom penh. the producers and investigators arrive across from what looks like a local cafe, but it's really a brothel. the owner is a woman who goes by the name madam lang. >> hi, there. >> she organize girls for us? >> she's eager to do business. she leads the group through the cafe and up a back staircase to meet some girls for hire. and when she says they are girls, she means it, literally.

young girls, younger than we even imagined. as an extra attraction, she says, they're still virgins. many sex tourists come to cambodia for exactly that reason, and they're willing to pay a premium. madam lang tells us her virgins go for $600, and for that price, she says, we can take this girl back to the hotel and keep her there for up to three days. >> what's her name? >> a few minutes later, she brings out this girl, another virgin. 15 years old. she looks paralyzed with fear. all this comes as no secret to the cambodian government. this woman serves as cambodia's minister of women's affairs. cambodia has a lot of problems. where do you rank the child sex trade? >> i rank sexual trade -- sexual exploitation of our children at

the top, on the top of my list. >> is there any way to even attach a number to this, to say how many children? >> around 30,000. >> 30,000? >> yes. >> that's a staggering number. >> yes, yes. >> the problem is driven by cambodia's extreme poverty. some parents so desperate that they sell their own children into slavery. it's happening all over cambodia. but there's one place that's notorious. a rundown village on the outskirts of phnom penh. any taxi driver can tell you it's the place to go if you're looking for the youngest girls. >> young, young girls? >> all young girls. >> what's the name of that place? >> svay pak. >> svay pak. it's a 20-minute drive. and we're on a dirt road dotted with cafes and gated storefronts. it takes just a second for a pimp to approach.

>> hi. how are you? >> everyone in svay pak assumes we're here for sex. when we sit down at one of the cafes, we're greeted by a young hustler named po. he's only 15 but already a real operator. he tells us he's grown up in the village and introduces his mother, who knows exactly what he's up to and takes a cut of the money he brings in. po says he can get us girls who are even younger than the ones we saw at the brothel in the city. and despite all we've seen, we're stunned at just how young he says they are. >> 8. >> 8. >> 8? >> 8 years old. it's hard to believe. he tells us to come see for ourselves. along with the human rights investigator, we follow po

through some alleys into a ramshackle house. we think we've already seen it all, but who could be prepared for this? girls, some so young, they could be in kindergarten, all for sale. throughout the village, we see the same scene at one brothel after another. >> hi, how are you? >> over the course of several visits, we meet dozens of children, including those girls we mentioned earlier. for girls their age, they know far too much. this girl, tau, tells us that at age 10, she's old enough for oral sex but not intercourse. that's for bigger girls. this pair says they, too, know how to perform oral sex and tell us how much it will cost. >> 30 and two girls? >> that's 60 american dollars.

a pimp says if two girls aren't enough, how about three? >> three girl. happy, happy. happy, happy new year. >> how much three girls? >> three girls, 90. >> this girl promises we'll be happy. >> after a visit to svay pak, the grim reality has set in for human rights investigator bob mossier. in 20 years as a cop, he says he's never seen anything like this. >> you have an 8-year-old or a 9-year-old little girl who's looking at you smiling, okay, realizing that you're going to in just a few moments probably, possibly going to engage in a sexual act that they're going to get money for. and they're smiling about it. i mean, i see a smile like that on my kid's face when they find out they're going to go to disney world or something like that. >> but the tourists in svay pak

are a far cry from the ones you see at disney world. and they're not anxious to talk about why they're here. in a back alley, our producers run into this visitor from europe. >> so what are you doing out here, chief? >> i have a friend down -- here to eat. >> you come here to eat? >> no, it's just a nice area. >> but a human rights investigator with a hidden camera found a visitor who was willing to admit he's not here for the scenic beauty or the local cuisine. >> this is your first time here? >> yes. >> come here for a sec. >> when the camera was hidden, this american prowling svay pak was happy to brag about his exploits. >> usually i buy three girls for 50 bucks, take them for the whole night. >> look familiar? he should. he's jerry albom, the same american doctor we met up with upon our arrival in phnom penh. now we know for sure he's interested in more than this country's historic temple.

he says he doesn't go for the youngest of girls. he prefers teenagers. >> 15, 16 and older. maybe 14-year-old might sneak in if you can't tell the age. i don't take the really little ones. that's a little bit of discretion on my part. >> he expresses the whole disgusting arrogance of the whole thing. >> i'm going to cement a deal for tonight. >> human rights activist says he'd like to see people like dr. albom and the pimps who supply him out of action. >> the bad guys are committed to what they're doing. somebody has to be as equally as committed as the perpetrators to making sure that they stay in trouble every single day. >> haugen has a plan. he wants to mount a daring operation, to bust the pimps and to rescue the children. now the question is, can he put his plan into action? the bold plot to save the children is about to run into danger. >> he said, you come back here, you die. you come back here, i'll kill you.

>> when "children for sale" continues.

>> how old are you? >> 10. >> how old? >> 10. >> in march 2003, human rights activist gary haugen tells us the situation in cambodia demands extreme action and his group will do what it takes to rescue the children being sold for sex. you know that by operating in this manner that you open yourselves up to the charge that you guys are cowboys. you're going into another country, doing an investigation, kicking down doors. >> cambodia was a place where we got a case referral and where we had knowledge of scores of children who are being molested and raped for a few dollars. and somebody needs to then take responsibility for that and say, okay, what can we do for these children? >> what he can do, he hopes, is prompt the government here to join his cause. to make his case, he takes the evidence to a powerful advocate,

the u.s. ambassador, who agrees to press the cambodians. >> so we're in this very tricky stage right now. the embassy is meeting with very high cambodian authorities today. and we are just hoping and praying that that meeting goes well. >> it takes a week but finally, the cambodians sign on to haugen's plan, which involves tricking the pimps into bringing the girls to a supposed sex party at a house outside the village. there, it will be easier for the police to arrest the pimps and rescue the children. to get the pimps on board, robert, the investigator, posing as a sex tour guide, has been telling them that his clients are reluctant to come into the village. >> the village is kind of a little bit dirty and dangerous for them. >> robert has discovered it really is dangerous. when he tried to sell the sex party idea to this pimp, the man asked if robert had a hidden

camera? >> why do you think i have camera? no. i have cell phone. i have notebook. >> on top of the camera, right? >> i don't have a camera. >> then he asked robert to prove he was for real and have sex with a little girl. >> how old is she? >> 5. >> 5? >> and when robert refused, the pimp got angry. finally, the pimp threatened him. >> he said you come back here, you die. you come back here, i'll kill you. i said, fine, we're out of here. >> hi. nice to meet you. >> robert kept searching until he found other pimps, including this man, willing to let some of the girls leave the village for the supposed sex party. the pimps are saying they want to come along to keep an eye on the children, which plays right into the plan. because, remember, when they arrive at the house, they'll be arrested. these wouldn't be the first

arrests in svay pak. the cambodian police have set up a unit to deal with sex trafficking, but they've never been involved in anything like this. this time, 60 officers are being assigned to the raid. but the big question is can they all be trusted? >> right now, there's no guarantees at all. >> hello. >> no guarantees because many of the cops here are in the pimps' pockets, like this police officer caught on robert's hidden camera. he thought robert was really a sex tour operator, and for 150 u.s. dollars, promised he could make sure neither robert nor his clients would be arrested. >> we will guarantee safety. >> $150, that's the equivalent of several months' pay for the average cambodian cop. if a cop like this finds out about the raid, he could alert the pimps. >> the whole operation could totally get blown. for us, this is an exercise in faith. >> it begins with a ride on a

bus, which is also supposed to be used to rescue the girls from svay pak. the bus waits on the outskirts of the village. a half-dozen motorbike drivers take the producers and investigators to get the girls. the pimps are there but no sign of the children. >> these are -- where's the -- >> ten minutes more. >> ten minutes more? >> finally, these two girls, sisters, are brought into the waiting area. >> hi there. come on in. come on in. >> others soon follow. now, the hope is these girls will escape the horror of this village. that's if everything goes according to plan. chaos and confusion. the rescue springs into action. >> it's okay. be good girl. it's okay. >> when "children for sale" continues. took nyquil but i'm still stubbed up.

[ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] you need a more complete cold formula, like alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. it's specially formulated to fight your worst cold symptoms, plus relieve your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] and to fight your allergy symptoms fast, try new alka-seltzer plus allergy. [ male announcer ] and to fight your allergy symptoms fast, living with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... could mean living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you with humira. for many adults with moderate to severe ra, humira's proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure.

before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your rheumatologist how you can defend against and help stop further joint damage with humira. you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you want a firm bed you can lie on one of those. we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. it's really shaping to my body. once they get our bed, they're like, "why didn't i do this sooner?" during the final days of our year-end closeout event, save up to $800 on selected 2011 bed sets. plus, free shipping on all beds. only at the sleep number store, where queen bed sets now start at just $899. you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you

a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. call or click today.

msnbc now. i'm alex witt. the gop presidential contenders are all in new hampshire today ahead of tuesday's primary. they'll go head to head twice in the next 24 hours in two separate debates, including sunday morning's "meet the press" debate which can be seen right here on msnbc. and drama on the high seas came to an end when a u.s. navy destroyer helped free iranian fishermen who were being held by pirates. i'm alex witt. see you in an hour. in march 2003, a "dateline" team is in the middle of an undercover operation with a human rights group, the international justice mission, which is trying to rescue these child sex slaves. the pimps believe the investigators are organizing a sex party and have agreed to

take the kids outside the village to a house where the party is supposed to be held. what they don't know is the cambodian police will be waiting for them. >> you're my girl. okay. >> at first, everything seems on track. >> i've got five now. >> then suddenly, the pimps change their mind and won't let the girls leave the brothel. >> we talked many day. now i come and, you know, my friend at my house. no girl. >> investigator bob mosier suspects the operation has been compromised. >> there's been a tip-off. this is going to require a traditional policing kind of response. >> it's not clear how much the pimps know but they picked up on rumors of an investigation. they may be suspicious but they're not exactly chasing anyone away. >> what about my friend at my house? >> in fact, they want the sex party to take place right here,

right now. and there isn't much of a choice. so our producers and the investigators play along. they take the girls behind closed doors to separate them from the pimps and to protect them. the pimps wait in the hallway. an investigator manages to make a phone call to alert the police who are supposed to be standing by. >> a producer stalls for time. suddenly, commotion in the hallway. the girls panic. >> be good girl. be good girl. it's okay. it's okay. >> i know, i know. >> police have burst in. this girl, yau, tries to run away. the suspects scramble. investigator bob mosier struggles with one. a plain-clothesed cop chases the suspect and strikes him with his gun.

then mosier finds the girl who tried to run off, yau. she and the others don't understand. don't know if they're being kidnapped or arrested. they're gathered on a sofa in the hallway. another missing girl, tau, is found hiding in a closet. everyone is crying. this girl says in broken english that she doesn't know what to do or where to go. >> my mommy also die. >> she has no mother. outside, a crowd gathers. among the spectators, a man who looks very familiar. remember him? he's that police officer who was working with the pimps and asked for a bribe. >> how about 100? now, he's off duty and out of uniform. could he or someone like him have tipped off the pimps and made them suspicious? >> he is a police officer, but i pay him money to have sex with

young girl. can you arrest him? i show you. >> yes. >> at first, the crooked cop slips away. but moments later, police grab him and drag him back. but now there's a problem with the girls. >> there are nine girls sitting back there. three of them disappeared off the couch. >> in all the commotion, our cameras catch this suspected madam sneaking one of the girls past the police. in an instant, she's gone. so are several others. officers are dispatched to look for the missing girls. they don't find them. but inside other brothels, they do find more than two dozen teenagers, 14 and older. word of the raid has spread rapidly. now, most of the brothels are shuttered and padlocked. police break the doors open. in one of the brothels, they

stumble on a lone teenager and signs others made a hurried exit, scattered shoes, a bowl of soup, still warm. and everywhere, traces of crimes committed behind closed doors. condoms and drugs. and what looked like ordinary business ledgers, only each of these entries could be evidence of the rape of a child. >> that tells you how much business they do? >> yes. let's look at today's. >> some of the ledger books like more like a grade school project, one book per girl, each with a photo and a name on the cover. it hasn't all gone according to plan, but at the end of the day, a dozen suspected pimps and madams are in custody. and 37 girls rescued. girls like ting and yau, seen here being carried from the brothel to a van waiting outside. as they're loaded into the van,

they're in shock. several like tau still sobbing. others like this little girl, ting, more subdued. escorted by officers from the cambodian ministry of interior, they pull away from this place where they lost so much, hopefully never to return. so where will these girls end up? can they ever escape their path? you're about to find out. a confrontation with the doctor. >> i don't want to make judgments for something i may have said when i was drunk or may have been slipped a pill. >> drunk or slipped a pill? >> right. >> that's your defense? the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you

to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu.

don't our dogs deser to eat fresher less processed foods just like we do introducing freshpet healthy recipes of fresh meat and fresh veggies so fresh the only preservative we use is the fridge freshpet fresh food for fido

after a tense rescue operation, these girls have been moved from brothels to a safehouse. for the moment, it's the calm after the storm, their fate still uncertain. for gary haugen, the head of the human rights group that made all this happen, it's a moment to pause and be thankful, but he says if you really want to attack the child sex trade, you need to go after the people most responsible. >> anybody who preys upon children should suffer the consequences of it. they need to be properly brought to justice. >> one man in particular he hopes authorities will catch up with is dr. jerry albom, who has bragged about having sex with teen sex slaves. >> usually, i buy out three -- three girls for 50 bucks, take them for the whole night. >> we want to ask dr. albom about his comments.

we learned he is temporarily practicing medicine on the island of guam, a tiny u.s. territory in the pacific. early one morning in june 2003, we wait for him to show up for work. hey, dr. albom, chris hansen with "dateline nbc." how are you? >> nice to meet you. >> we're doing an investigation into the trade of underage prostitutes in cambodia. and we know that you've frequented some of the places around phnom penh and svay pak. >> that's true, i have visited there many times. >> with underage girls? >> no, not to my knowledge. >> may i show you a videotape? >> yes, but not on camera. >> well, i think you'll want to see this. we show him some of the undercover video. >> i usually take -- they're usually very, very young. we say 15, 16, maybe a 14-year-old might sneak in if you can't tell the age.

>> you say maybe a 15, 16, even a 14-year-old girl could sneak in. that's underage, doctor. >> i don't want to say anything more, but i've read about things like this. i've talked to people who have done this, but i deny any participation in anything like this. >> he denies breaking any laws and offers a possible explanation for his remarks. >> there are many things i've read about, many things people talked to me about. and i don't want to participate in any judgment of something i may have said when i was drunk or may have been slipped a pill. who knows? >> drunk or slipped a pill? >> right. >> that's your defense? >> yes. from one episode that i don't even recognize myself. i don't even recognize myself saying something like that. >> but you know this is you? >> i would agree that is me. >> you also talk about getting three girls for the night for $50. >> i don't want to comment specifically on anything on there anymore. okay?

i will deny anything, any illegal activity by united states laws and i will leave it at that. >> dr. albom has never been charged with a crime, but following our report, he faced disciplinary action by medical boards in five states and no longer has a license to practice in the u.s. that's not the only impact we've seen. more than a dozen alleged traffickers exposed in our original report were arrested. six were convicted and given prison sentences ranging from 5 to 20 years. and in canada, this man, donald baker, is serving a seven-year sentence for traveling to cambodia to have sex with children. our story helped crack the case. police found tapes baker had made of himself having sex with children at an unknown location in asia. detectives figured out where when they saw our broadcast. it turns out that some of the girls seen on baker's video performing sex acts on him were

seen being rescued in our story. >> yes. four of them. that was the break that we needed. >> the u.s. state department says that since 2003, the cambodian government has made significant progress against human trafficking, but it's still falling short. the crux of the problem, the state department says, is public corruption, some cambodian officials cashing in on what continues to be a lucrative, illicit trade. we recently saw signs of the continuing sex trade in the city of sim reap, near the temples of ankor wat. a "dateline" photographer with a hidden camera was approached by prostitutes on the street. all claimed they were over 18 years old. that same night, police were preparing to raid this club to arrest suspected traffickers, but the operation was called off

at the last minute after word of the plan leaked. general por phak runs cambodia's anti-trafficking efforts. >> the case is ongoing. the investigation is going on as to who actually tipped them off. >> just because an investigation is compromised doesn't mean it's over? >> no, it's not over. >> the general admits more needs to be done and the government has a zero tolerance policy and points to the arrest of this russian businessman, accused of raping 19 girls. and this american, terry smith, who was running a sleazy bar in southern cambodia, where he allegedly was abusing young girls. smith was also wanted for sex crimes back in oregon. cambodia handed him over to u.s. authorities and he is now serving 22 years. why is this an american problem? >> well, for two reasons. i mean, certainly, americans are part of the problem in that they

are the sex tourists who come to cambodia and create the market for it. so, just any american ought to be so ashamed by that as to say we're not going to tolerate this anymore. but also this is a problem for americans because we're human beings. and these are children no different than our own children. in fact, it's precisely the idea that another child is not a human being like me that allows these children to be pimped, to be exploited and to be abused. it's that same idea that allows maybe the rest of us to maybe close our eyes to it. i can understand closing your eyes to something you can't change. this is something americans can have a positive effect on. and we started to see the beginning of that. >> the crackdown on criminals is just one part of what's changed in cambodia. you're about to meet a remarkable american family who gave up nearly everything to come here to help the children. you sold your house? >> sold our house. >> and we'll take you on an extraordinary visit to see some

of the girls rescued five years ago. >> with the right amount of heart and effort, you can make a difference in someone's life. >> changing the world one child at a time. when "children for sale" continues. [ tires squeal ]

an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

after "dateline" exposed the ugly truth. >> how old are you? >> 10. >> cambodian authorities cracked down. what's it like today? this is the main street. five years ago it was lined with brothels and now stepack is a changed place. many of the brothels have closed their doors and moved out of town replaced by restaurant, a phone store, even a community center serving children, some of the same children who were once exploited here. this front part is new here.

>> reporter: this building used to be a brothel. now thanks to an american charity, children and women come here for classes and counseling. it's just one of several efforts that are inspired by our reporting. james pond says seeing our story changed his life. >> it was one of those seminal moments where seeing this thing -- my wife was in tears. i couldn't get up off the couch and it was one of those things that once you've seen it, it's -- you either have to do something about it or it will keep haunting you. >> i think i have the willpower -- >> and so pond, at the time a successful sales executive for california, sat down with his wife and three children to discuss what they could do. they made a dramatic decision. >> you sold your house? >> sold your house. >> sold the cars. >> sold our furniture to all of our neighbors. quit my job. my job thought i was absolutely insane. >> they took a last trip to disneyland and then the whole

family moved to cambodia. james, a former u.s. marine and his wife athena established a center for teens rescued from brothels. they battle bureaucracy and a tough environment, over two years the ponds managed to hire a staff and take in more than two dozen girls who had been trafficked. >> was there any time that was so frustrating or so overwhelming that you say, geez. >> any time we felt overwhelmed you would spend time with those girls and you'd look in their faces and you'd see them smile at you and it was like a rejuvenation occurred. with the right amount of heart and effort, you can make a difference in someone's life. >> if you don't change the issue, you change a life one at a time. >> but changing the lives of girls wo have been forced into sexual slavery is an enormous challenge especially when they're teenagers. most of the girls woe saw rescued five years ago were

teens at the time. they were taken to specialized group homes. many of those teens left the shelters. some even returned to the sex trade. but what about the younger girls? what's happened to them since their rescue? recently we had a rare invitation to visit four of the girls from the organization caring for them. this was yao five years ago. this, one of the youngest, ting. this was la, sold into slavery by her own mother, she spent a year trapped in the brothels. and then there was an image we'll never forget. this girl, tao, distraught, unable to stop crying. this is tao today. and the three other girls. back in 2003, they were 7 to 10

years old. now they're 12 to 15. what seems so normal is really a miracle. four girls playing and studying. in school, they're doing algebra and we are told catching up academically. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> they seem to be flourishing, learning traditional cambodian dance. ask even martial arts. they were proud to show me their new skills. sue taylor has overseen their care. >> they gained confidence in themeses so they can feel they can have some control over their life and if someone comes up to them they know some self-defense. >> it is an amazing transfo

transformation to see that girl, once so frightened and once so battered to be out there and being able to perform a traditional cambodian dance on stage. >> that's got to be pretty rewarding for you. >> that's what makes all of the difference, i think. >> the rehabilitation of girls that have been so severely abused is far from simple. >> they would come with drug addictions and with a whole lot of fear. they don't trust people. >> talmage pain runs ha, ga rsh, the charitable organization caring for the girls. >> you come in with great intensions and telling them you're going to help them, but that's what the last abuser did. that's the what the last person who purchased them did. they've all undergone incontinuesive therapy one-on-one, but they still suffer. >> of the four girls that you have, one of them has a history of when a traumatic memory comes

back goes into almost like a strokelike situation. she just -- out. >> blanks out. blanks out. >> in spite of all they've been through, the girls agree to sit down with us to talk about their lives. they acknowledge it's not been easy. >> millions of people in america will see this story. what's the most important thing you want to say to them about your experience? >> translator: i would like to tell them that i came from a dark and dirty place, and now i'm very happy, and i'm preparing for my future. >> do you ever think about some of the girls who didn't get this opportunity to come here? >> translator:. yes. >> what do you think about them? >> the children in the brothels who cannot escape are stuck in a dark world. they're helpless.

>> even though some of the children were sold into slavery by their own parent, hagar takes them to visit their families a few times a year, usually on holidays and always with a guardian. remarkably, the girls say they appreciate the family visits. >> do you ever think you'll go back and live with them? >> i could, but i don't want to go back. >> you like it right here? >> yes. >> do you ever go to stepack at all? >> i want to forget that story. >> they prefer to focus on the next chapter of their lives and they expect it to be a happy one. >> when i grow up i want to be a dance teacher. >> i want to be the ceo of a company or run an organization. >> translator: i want to become a doctor. >> that they're able to have these dreams shows just how far these girls have come. all in all, sue taylor says they're coping pretty well. >> i think they'll always have scars. i think those scars will never

heal totally. >> what do you think the chances are that they'll grow up to have a normal, successful life? >> i feel quite confident that they will. i feel they came in so young and that was the great thing. they were rescued young, and so they have a lot of intervention, and a lot of healing and a lot of counseling. so i really have a lot of hope for them. >> it's easy to see why. when it was time for me to leave cambodia, the girls insisted on seeing me off at the airport. a touching moment and time to reflect on how fortunate i feel to have met them. we shared some ice cream, a few tears, and the promise we'd see each other again. >> for more information on how you can help, logon to our website.