tonight on "nightline," the skin trade. this young couple makes ends meet by filming their sex life for cash, all from the privacy of their own home with their toddler sleeping nearby. tonight, lisa ling goes inside the rapidly expanding world of amateur porn. shatter eed peace. a seaside town is plunge into horror when a former marine allegedly walks into a salon, guns blazing. tonight, a community struggles to answer, what caused this seemingly average dad to snap? and children of the plains. it's a soulful american crossroads, chronic poverty and boundless dreams. tonight, diane sawyer tells us

why she devoted a year and half to exploring this corner of hidden america. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 13th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. 40 million americans look at online porn on pa regular basis. and sight trackers show that a lot of that audience is increasingly seeking out so-called amateur porn, where the performers are supposedly motivated more by thrill than paycheck. tonight, we meet a pair of so-called amateurs in a committed relationship who have turned their bedroom into a new kind of home office, sharing their most intimate moments for online strangers in order to support a family. here's lisa ling for our series, "modern sex in america." >> reporter: it's become the most clicked on category on adult websites like youporn. amateur videos shot by every day

people. some will even pail for it. >> every couple has sex. we just do it live on a website. >> reporter: 24-year-old tyler and 21-year-old berkley, who didn't want to reveal their last name, perform live sex sessions, right out of their bedroom. for cash. >> we did it once together, that first night, within like 30 minutes we made $300. i'm like, i'm done with the normal 40 hour a week. i'm done. we usually take two, three days off a week, make $1,000. it got us a way better life. >> reporter: it's the end of the day for tyler and berkley. time to tuck in their 20-month-old daughter and time to prepare for their nightly session. the only downside so far for the couple is the reality of sex for work. starting around midnight, five nights a week. >> having sex off and on for two, three hours, it's kind of hard. especially the kind they want, it's rough, so it waerms on you

a lot. >> because it is a job for us to have sex, sex outside of work doesn't really happen. it's total sex killer. >> reporter: you've just spent the last half hour or so preparing for a performance. >> yeah. >> reporter: so this is your bedroom but it is also your set. >> this is where it goes down. >> yeah. >> reporter: and your daughter is asleep upstairs. >> asleep. >> we keep a by by monitor turned down low, if we hear her or anything, we sign out, go tend to her and usually come right back to work. as long as it's a good time to work, we'll work. when we can make the money quick, we do. >> reporter: that time is now. as final preparations are made, i step out to leave themo t their work. it's now these two young parents beginning to turn into amateur porn stars. >> hi, boys.

>> reporter: outside, i sign on to witness what tyler and berkley's hundreds of viewers will see. this site is just one of 24 million pornographic websites out there, available 24 hours a day. there's something for everyone. gay, bondage, couples. so, berkley and tyler are in the bedroom. tyler needs a little time to get excited, so -- we and all of their clients are waiting. those clients will pay up to $8 a minute, and 75% of that goes to the hosting website. but with the amount of traffic tyler and berkley get, they say it's still worth it. worth it, because it means they can support their daughter. tyler and berkley had been dating on and off again for about five years when berkley got pregnant at 19.

the two worked hard to stay together, to create a family. but that wasn't easy. just eight months ago, tyler and berkley were struggling to make ends meet. >> i've never had money growing up. he's never had money growing up. we always pinched pennies. >> reporter: without a college degree, berkley was only age to get short-term work as a cocktail waitress in a nightclub. and tyler could onto get jobs that made less than $350 a week. >> it did get to the point where we weren't making enough money. if i would have lost my job, we would have had nothing. we would have been without. we just want to be normal. that's what our goal is to be. just to be as normal as possible. >> reporter: but no matter how hard they try to create a normal life, is raising their daughter in the shadow of amateur porn truly normal? what are some of the strangest things that people have asked you to do? >> domination kind of things, like, people like being ordered around to doing things.

>> brother/sister. >> hair pulling, biting. >> a lot of hair pulling and that hurts. >> reporter: are you concerned about how you're going to talk to your daughter about this? because he is getting older and going to be in school soon. >> i'm hoping by then we won't be doing it seriously anymore. i want to learn how to do air conditioning or refrigeration. the goal is to not do this full-time all the time. this kind of job is helping us get closer and closer to college. >> reporter: while tyler and berkley aren't able to save for college just yet, the thousands dollars a week they make from porn enables them to finally live a comfortable life. >> hey. you want to wear this? i don't want to be broke. i don't want my child to be broke and i don't want to live a broke life. i want to live a comfortable, happy life. porn's giving it. i'm going to take it. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm lisa ling. >> "our america" with lisa ling airs sunday on own. and you can see her tomorrow

morning on "good morning america." our thanks to lee sachlt. just ahead, what drive and accused shooter to unleash on a nightmare in a beachside beauty salon? and accused shooter to unleash on a nightmare in a beachside beauty salon? and accused shooter to unleash on a nightmare in a beachside beauty salon? and accused shooter to unleash on a nightmare in a beachside beauty salon? o and accused shooter to unleash on a nightmare in a beachside beauty salon? ve and accused shooter to unleash on a nightmare in a beachside beauty salon? now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect.

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>> reporter: a candlelight vigil outside a beachtown beauty paralot. seen of america's latest mass murder. >> this was not a random act of violence. >> reporter: the police are right. this wasn't random. it appears to have been one man on a rampage. the suspect, 42-year-old scott dekraai, ex-husband of one of the stylists at the salon. >> all i could hear was pop, pop, pop. >> reporter: eyewitnesses say he killed her first, then kept shooting. >> we all kind of hovered down. i called 911. all i could hear were screams and shots. >> reporter: eight people killed, including a man just gifting into his car in the parking lot. >> two of my stylists were actually looking out the window and saw the shooter shoot the man in the parking lot. so, we just grabbed everybody, clients and ourselves, there was about nine of us in here, and huddled into the bathroom, locked the door.

>> reporter: survivors were visibly shaken in the immediate aftermath. the smell of gun powder still in the air, even after the shooting stopped. no, this wasn't random. but it was senseless, even to people who suspected dekraai might have been near the breaking point. >> we kind of thought this in the back of our hearts, it was like, this could happen. and so it was no surprise. i didn't even have to ask who did it. >> reporter: dekraai was a lifelong orange county resident, an ex-marine and by all accounts, a devoted father. >> i've known scott for 25 years. through fishing, surfing. and playing together in town. he's been really consistent person. >> reporter: so what do you make of this? >> it's crazy it truly is crazy. >> reporter: steve sweet says something drastically changed in 2007, when dekraai was a tug boat captain. >> he had an accident with a tug

boat. >> reporter: a terrible accident. dekraai tried to save a fellow crew member who was sliced in half by a line. he was badly injured himself. what did that do to him that accident? >> it actually took his, the top of his leg, right here, he had a pros thesis. and he started getting, i guess, depressed. >> reporter: about that time, dekraai filed for divorce, moved in with his nurse and filed for custody of his son, accusing his ex-wife of being a drunk, something she has denied. but in 2008, the court even granted him a restraining order, bank her from consuming alcohol before or during child visits. neighbors would see him playing catch with his son and their lab outside the little blue bungalow where they lived. >> they had a dog, a son. they played in the yard. i'd wish him happy father's day, he would say, you, too. >> reporter: michelle never gave up. in court papers filed in may, she accused him of spending all

his waking hours in pursuit of ways to devest all custody rights from me. she insisted he was diagnosed bipolar, had been physically abusive and at one point threatened to kill himself or someone else. they had their latest court hearing monday, one day before the murders. michelle dekraai hadn't even got rn around to putting away the court documents. there they are in the back of her car, still parked outside the salon. >> our sons have been in class together and they are friends at school. they're buddies. yeah. i mean, this is a small town. we all know each other. it is -- it is devastating. >> reporter: one more victim in this small town tragedy, a 7-year-old kid who has now lost both parents. his mom is dead and his dad is probably headed to jail. >> as far as being like a death penalty case -- >> reporter: yeah. >> he definitely probably is going to be a candidate for that. >> reporter: and should he? >> after what he's put people

through? the sorrow and all the people he hurt? i got to say yes. >> reporter: seal beach provides itself on beingsort of small town where everybody knows everybody. mayberry by the sea, they call it. tonight, mayberry is in mourning. i'm david wright for "nightline" in seal beach, california. >> our thanks to david right. and our hearts out to those folks. coming up next, the soaring dreams of determined youth in one of the country's most chronically impoverished and naturally beautiful corners. [ male announcer ] at&t and verizon charge you extra for going over 2 gigabytes of data. t-mobile slows down your data speed. with sprint you don't get charged extra and you don't slow down. and you get unlimited data, text and calling to any mobile -- for only $79.99. the best unlimited plan...wins. make the most of unlimited data with a brilliant screen on a pencil thin phone.

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february 2009 was an especially proud time here at abc news. it came with the debut of "hidden america: children of the

appalachian mountains." a year-long investigation into the lives of the most amazing people that you never knew before. diane sawyer and her team won a slew of awards for that. it is one of my favorite moments and i heard about the new follow-up, children of the plains, and we couldn't wait to talk to you about it. >> they are triumphant warriors, these children, and, of course, they're fighting a very 21st century war. and what they do and what they teach us -- first of all, made us stay a year and a half this time, because of their stories and what happened to them. >> it's the lakota sioux in south dakota. >> and the reservations there are the forest places in america right now, and we think of traveling the world to find third world poverty, but there is poverty right here. and there is so much dreaming and brilliance inside it, from these kids. they are dreamers and survivors.

their faces, arcing back to their warrior ancestors. and their spirits are that, too. the children of the pine ridge indian reservation who refuse to be defeated the astonishing children can always see a distant horizon. we ride up in the hills of the pine ridge, where a 12-year-old girl says she wants to tell us about the land she loves. so beautiful up here. she is louise clifford, who wants a beautiful future, while honoring her past. >> everything's sacred. the dancing, the tepees, the horses, the buffalo. everything just gets to me because it's strong and in my blood. >> and on this night, we go to her home, it is freezing. >> how's that? >> better. >> reporte >> she takes me into her bedroom, all pink. >> these, i have these shirts.

>> do you ever watch families on tv and think how lucky they are? >> yeah, when they have the shows, like, well, i have everything and they have -- i can be like them but i kind of love the way i live right now because it's part of our culture. >> but even the strongest spirit can be crushed when the weight is just too much. the mother she adores is an alcoholic and louise is constantly terrified something will happen to her. >> obviously i'm intoxicated. >> that's my mom. >> her grandfather made a decision, especially difficult, in lakota culture, asking permission from the tribal counsel to give him emergency custody of his grandchild. >> do you understand what he's happen right now? >> not really. >> i think it's time we stepped in. is that okay with you? >> uh-huh.

>> let's go do it then. >> okay. >> louise's mother somebodies. >> she's now in his rightful custody. >> there is so little help on the reservation. teachers and the principle of the school are trying to watch over here. >> i love going to school a lot. >> tell me what you love about school. >> math. i love doing math. >> surrounded by the worry of today and so much uncertainty about the future. but she has a prayer feather to strengthen her prayers. a little bag of marbles from the medicine man, representing her family, so she'll remember she's not alone. >> this is my mom here. my indian name mean s stands against the wind. i'm one wheat that stands high above the others.

even in a wind storm, i'll never fall over. >> and again, you should know the strength, the courage, the joy, the all-american heroism, true heroism, is what shines through this whole hour. >> i know, i've seen you react to stories around the world, and we watch this tomorrow night, i want to know, what is the moment diane sawyer was most moved by? >> it's so hard to pick, but i'm sitting with a kid who is surrounded by so little that would encourage him, and he wants to be president of the united states. he has been taught in his culture that there's a smooth road and all the kids out there in america who have so much are lucky in that, but there is always a muddy road that kids like him to travel and maybe sometimes they get strong along the way. >> can't wait to see it. thank you so much. diane's hour-long special,