. >> we met earl hymer at california's kern valley state prison. >> i have a 37-year sentence, lewd acts on a minor 14 years old. >> this was not his first time in prison nor his first sex offense. >> my wife deemed it necessary that i be arrested for attempted rape of your wife and not of a -- as weird as that sounds. you come home drunk and try to take it and she doesn't want it, that's still a criminal offense. >> hymer shares a cell with another convicted child molester, ray roe, who is serving a 230-year sentence. even though he is in protective custody, roe rarely leaves his cell out of fear for safety. >> i don't know whether someone is going to take me out before the day's over with. every time i go to chow. any time any sex offender goes to chow or goes out of their cell. and sometimes even in your cell. can i go to sleep with this person in here? you're pretty vulnerable when you're sound asleep. >> hymer and rowe have worked out an uneasy trust if not a friendship. >> we've managed to read or stay out of each other's way. >> yeah. i draw on in afternoons sometimes and generall