this is "nightline." tonight, code of silence? these air force cadets are some of the top athletes in the nation. but now, some stand accused of sexual assault. largely based on the undercover work of one of their own. tonight, what that informant says he endured for assisting in the investigation. plus, killer caimans attack. these predators are running wild and they have locals fearing for their lives. >> bite your leg off, your head off. >> tonight, an epic battle of man versus beast. and, cronuts at home. fans wait in line for days to taste his creations. but now, the mad genius behind the franken-pastry of the year is finally revealing his top secret recipe. can you really whip this up in

your kitchen? but first, the "nightline" five. >> if you're up there, i could use some help. >> smart, sarah. seeking guidance. just like with your investments. that sets you apart. >> it does? >> it does. you're type e. and seeking another perspective is what type es do. oh, and your next hand hold is there. >> you don't have to go it alone. e-trade gives you the support and guidance to make informed decisions. are you type e? >> number one in just 60 seconds.

good evening. sexual assault can often be tough to prove. with allegations at the air force academy of female cadets being victimized by players on the football team, one of the

players agreed to go undercover to gather evidence. what happened to him is just part of the story. for the first time tonight, we hear from a young woman who says she was one of those victims. here's abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross for our series, "nightline investigates." ♪ >> in april of 2012, i was sexually assaulted. >> reporter: alexis jones hardy was a freshman cadet at the united stes air force academy. >> he was putting his hand down my pants and, you know, i kept saying no. i said no about 30 times. >> reporter: she is speaking publicly tonight for the first time, still angry about how she was treated, not only by her alleged attacker, but by the academy, where she dropped out, her life changed forever. >> honestly i gave up on life. there were times i didn't want to be alive. they don't want people to know that sexual assault is a problem

at the air force academy. ♪ >> reporter: as a school that trains the country's future military leaders, the air force academy in colorado springs is supposed to be a place of strict discipline. with an honor code inscribed on the walls for all to see. we will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does. >> you take an honor oath. you promise to uphold the standards of this country and to be honorable. >> reporter: but her attacker, she says, was a member of the air force academy's football team. and while she reported the assault, she never named her alleged attacker, for fear he would be protected and she would be the one put on trial. >> i had two teammates who were

assaulted. one was raped. one, it was attempted rape. and i saw what it does to them. i saw the academy as a whole judge them. everything about their personal life was put in the forefront. everyone they'd ever slept with. >> reporter: that was a widely held view at the air force academy, according to brandon enos, the agent with the osi assigned to investigate sex yawl violence and members of the football team. he says the code of honor did not seem to apply to many of them. >> it is very difficult to get into that circle and they usually don't snitch, for lack of a better word. >> reporter: but enos found a way to break that code of silence, with an undercover cadet by the name of eric thomas, a soccer and football team member who agreed to become a confidential informant. >> i thought, absolutely. we're talking about sexual assault here.

real crimes affecting real people and having consequences that last a lifetime. >> reporter: thomas worked for almost a year as a confidential informant. they met on the vast you a cadmy campus at night, as thomas, who wore a secret tape recorder, provided detailed reports on his fellow cadets' alleged criminal behavior. >> i would report a sexual assault. the information i'm providing is what every other cadet should pride. >> reporter: thomas was a gold mine of information for enos. leads developed by him and others resulted in what the air force called operation gridiron, whose results were not wildly publicized until the colorado springs gazette revealed the case late last year. two members of the football team court martialed for sexual assault. jamil cooks and tony niels, both now appealing their convictions. a third star player, asher clark, was disenrolled for drug

use, along with 14 other cadets, many of them athletes, expelled or forced to resign. >> actually the largest and most successful operation to ever be ran at the academy. >> reporter: without eric, would you have been able to learn that, you think? >> no. i can confidently say there would have been no conviction at the academy probably to this day. >> reporter: without eric. >> right. >> reporter: once it became public, operation gridiron put a cloud over the good name of the air force academy. >> we have a microscope over us and we know that, because we are held to a higher standard. >> reporter: the new suspect, michelle johnson, says she's the first to acknowledge there was a serious problem with sexual assault at the academy. and she says she's made it her highest priority to fix. >> we acknowledge it, we own it and we want to move on. >> reporter: there's no denial of what happened here. >> no. >> reporter: it was bad. >> yes. >> reporter: the air force academy says whatever happened in the past, sexual violence is not and will not be tolerated.

it produced this video to help prove it. featuring top cadet athletes. >> i pledge to end sexual violence and the culture that perpetuates it. >> i will not ignore the signs. >> i'll make every effort to fix the veerment, even if i'm not directly part of the program. >> reporter: and the academy selected four to reinforce the message that everyone has to stand up to sexual i have lens. >> we know what we're like. we know we're not that type of person. >> reporter: do you feel if there's a problem, it gets addressed? >> yes, sir, i do. >> i feel like now that this has been out in the media, we hold each other better accountable. >> reporter: but the special investigations agent, brandon enos, and his undercover cadet, eric thomas, who helped develop the cases that held sexual predators acountable say they were both punished and then kicked out or forced out of the air force for their work. >> i was vacuuming floors, taking out trash. just really degrading. >> reporter: vacuuming floors? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: thomas was tol to

pack his things and leave the academy grounds. disenrolled just six weeks before graduation. >> we had just gotten our lieutenant bars and then i got a knock on the door. unannounced. that i was being disenrolled. i had my rank removed in the middle of the squadron. watched me as i rolled my chest down to the elevator. and was gone from the academy. >> reporter: the air force says thomas aqume lamented a huge number of demerits for violations including going offcampus and attending parties. most of which he claims were part of his undercover assignment. >> i was punished for providing these statements. without those statements -- i'd be a second lieutenant. >> reporter: but a report by the air force inspector general found that the bulk of the demerits were not connected to thomas' undercover work. >> i did not conclude that he was treated unfairly. >> reporter: the final decision was made by michael gould.

>> if i disenrolled him from the air force academy, he deserved it. you would not want that particular individual to be an officer in our air force today. >> reporter: do you give eric thomas any credit for what he did serving as an undercover informant? >> i don't want to talk about former cadet thomas anymore. >> reporter: the fact that he helped bring these cases, was that a good thing? >> i don't really buy into the fact that he helped bring these cases. >> reporter: really? not at all? >> no, i'm -- i'm finished talking about his accusations. i don't buy any of us. >> reporter: but even the air force inspector general found that thomas deserves substantial credit for his role in helping to bring cases of sexual violence to light. >> very positive. his work the definitely helped the osi in their investigation and later on helped obtain a couple of court martial trials.

>> reporter: members of congress are looking into what happened to thomas and up nose and two u.s. senators are asking the pentagon to conduct a new independent investigation. >> it's a case of retaliation for people whose job is to root out and prosecute sexual assault cases. >> reporter: and it's not just a problem with the air force football team. in fact, one of the court martialed players, jamil cooks, is now wearing number 37 for another college, alcorn state in mississippi. a football star there, even though he is also a registered sex offender. all to the dismay of alexis jones hardy, given what she says happened to her by another football player. >> it absolutely just disgusts men, because that proves that it's not important. >> reporter: alcorn state says it is aware that cooks is a registered sex offender, but told us they have no issues with his enrollment. as for eric thomas, he's now working with the victims

advocates group, protect our defenders. still hoping one day to become an air force pilot. for "nightline," brian ross, abc news, colorado springs. next, with these ruthless predator s waiting in the water the hunt is on. right! now you're gonna ask for my credit card - - so you can charge me on the down low two weeks later look, credit karma - are you talking to websites again? this website says 'free credit scores'. oh. credit karma! yeah, it's really free. look, you don't even have to put in your credit card information. what?! credit karma. really free credit scores. really. free. i could talk to you all day. of warm nestlé love thtoll house cookies? taste well with new nestlé toll house frozen cookie dough, you can bake as few or as many as you please. whenever your sweet tooth comes calling, they're frozen and ready to bake.

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on protecting maryland, we just can't trust him.

if you haven't heard of a caiman, picture 1,000-pound predator with no hesitation about attacking humans. for the people you're about to meet, these gigantic reptiles are a daily threat. and yet, it's illegal to hunt them.

so, what do locals do to fight back? here's abc's mariana van zeller. >> reporter: we're deep in a remote corner of brazil. oh, my gosh. holy cow. do you see that face? uncomfortably close to the amazon's largest and most fearsome killer. watch out with your hands. it can jump up. the black caiman. oh [ bleep ]. the bigger and meaner cousin of the alligator that can grow 20 feet long and weigh up to 1,000 pounds. their massive jaws able to crush with the pressure of a falling car. and with no natural predators in the wild, the population of hungry caimans is soaring. which puts the people who live here directly in the line of danger.

this woman says she was riding her bike here when a ten-foot caiman sprung out of nowhere. her sister-in-law lost an arm when she attempted to rescue her. vicious attacks like this are on the rise. but it wasn't always this way. caimans were the ones hunted by humans, to the brink of extinction. their skin, a valuable commodity on the black market. but after an anti-poaching law was enacted, the population exploded. and many locals say that leaves them defenseless. to better understand this brewing battle between man and beast, we ventured deep into caiman territory. did you hear that? you're calling for them and they actually answered? >> yeah. >> reporter: this is my guide. he's tracked these rep times his entire life.

after dark, they come out to hunt. samuel, what he's doing is, he is pointing his flashlight in the river bank and trying to look for the reflection of the caim caiman's eyes. jungle so thick, we have to hack our way through. oh, my gosh. i want to make sure -- >> make sure there's no snakes. >> reporter: that's what i'm looking. we're lost in the middle of the jungle. but before long, we stumble across a sweet spot. >> no. >> reporter: oh, god. >> this is a baby. >> reporter: oh, don't get -- the baby can still bite. and samuel starts reeling them in. >> it can take your arm.

hold it. >> reporter: hold it? this is about 60 pounds. the skin is amazing. these animals don't appear to be as murderous as i was led to believe. >> i'm going to let it go. bye-bye, my friend. >> reporter: so, the next morning, i visit bill mag newson. i want to know why a caiman, known here, would attack. >> humans normally don't form part of the diet of them. >> reporter: he thinks the recent surge in attacks is the result of humans encroaching on wild terrain. >> it doesn't know that that person is just stupid. >> reporter: but he concedes that legalized and well-regulated caiman hunting would even out the playing field. >> it would be a good market for these people. and it would have very little affect on the -- on conversation. >> reporter: but many locals are fed up with the threat of attacks and they aren't willing to wait for the law to catch up.

we heard there's some local people around here that captured some caimans last night. that's how we found ourselves inches away from the snapping jaws of a ten-foot caiman. >> we have to tie up the mouth, close it and then we can put inside of this boat. >> reporter: at least samuel is here to ensure our safety. >> come and hang this hook. >> reporter: these hunters are exploiting a recent loophole in the law that allows low cams to harvest their own caiman meat. but they can't sell any part of the animal commerciality. so, right now, under the canoe. just -- couple of feet away from me. they're going to drag him behind the canoe. take him to land. >> and this size of caiman can bite your leg off, your head off. >> reporter: heavy right now. about 500 pounds is what you estimate? >> around, yeah.

>> reporter: it's completely on the loose. completely. it's not tied down to anything. no ropes, nothing. but there's no escaping now. this caiman's fate is sealed. >> i feel sorry for the animal. >> reporter: the hunters finish off the animal. but there are plenty more lurking. mighty beasts and men both on the prowl. for "nightline," i'm mariana van zeller in the amazon. next, if you don't want to wait in line but you still want to try the hottest dessert of the year, it's your lucky day. the cronut inventor is finally revealing his secret recipe. so guys -- it's just you and your honey. the setting is perfect. but then erectile dysfunction happens again. you know what? plenty of guys have this issue, not just getting an erection, but keeping it.

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how does a pastry go viral? well, if you're the inventor of the cronut, it starts with a whole lot of butter. the rest has been secret until now. abc's sara haynes got a hands on demonstration and the enviable job of trying out the results. >> reporter: it's no surprise people go nuts for cronuts. the $5 connectifection that's g viral. people lining up overnight just to snag a maximum of two of these elite treats. >> all right. >> reporter: but what if we told you you didn't have to stand on that crazy long line? now, in his new book, the secret recipe, the creator is revealing his special at-home recipe for all you dough-loving disciples.

what do you hope people get from this cookbook. >> i hope people get inspired. it's not just following a recipe. sometimes you take a recipe that you have from your mom, from your grandma and you turn it into yours. >> reporter: it's not the exact same recipe but people can make it at home. >> i wanted to make sure everybody could do it at home with ingredients you can find in a grocery shop. >> reporter: this is no cake walk. it takes three days to create. day one is all about making th dough. i recognize that one. she's my soul sister. fast forward to day two where we roll out, then laminate the dough. a process where butter is folded in. dough, butter, dough. and finally on day three, it's time to cut the dough. after letting it rest for two hours in a warm setting, we're ready to fry. drop the spatula moment. then fill, sugar and glaze.

for "nightline," i'm sara haynes in new york. >> reporte i did a really good job. >> good job. >> oh, yeah. that's tough, tough work. thanks, sara. thanks for watching abc news. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow and as always, we're online at abcnews.com. good night. hello, raymond. oh, hi, mom. how's your book coming? good. yeah. it is so exciting to see you writing a book. oh, thanks. thank you, ma. does it have to be about sports? yeah, well, it's either that or about mothers who can't let go. listen, debra mentioned you might need someone

to help you get organized. oh, she did. yeah. to help you get organized. yeah. isn't that nice how she mentions things to you? listen, mom, i appreciate the oer, but i don'- i don't need any-- no, no, no. it's not me, raymond. although i'd be a terrific gal friday. no, it's-- i was thinking about your cousin gerard. gerard? oh, i don't like gerard. yes, you do. isn't he always in the hospital? well, he's a fragile boy. i mean, he--he has allergies, and he has a poor sense of balance, but he's much better now. i don't need anybody, ma, especially gerard. i happen to kn that gerard is a very responsible young man. and he's exactly what you need. and i owe his mother. for what? well, you know when robert got divorced? she set him up with melissa.