one of the corcoran inmates we san down with was christian knighten. nobody describes the daily pressures, the ups and downs of being a predator, like he does. >> it's seductive, you know what i mean? you can love the game, but the game loves nobody. you know what i mean? you could sit there and give it your all and think everyone's supporting you, and before you know it, just like that. get your throat cut. seen it, done it. >> knighten was serving time for murder and attempted murder. crimes he committed at the los angeles county jail while awaiting trial on an outside murder/robbery charge that he was convinced would send him to prison for life. but when he went on trial for that original murder charge, something completely unexpected happened. >> they find me not guilty, and it righteously blew my mind. i had to laugh. the irony of it was classic. >> knighten should have walked away as a free man. instead, he remained incarcerated until he was tried for his jailhouse murder. this time, he was found guilty and given 79 years in prison. but that murd

. >> the inmate debriefing is none other than notoriously dangerous gang member christian knighten. >and you're validated as what? >> mexican mafia member. >> can you tell us why you've chose to leave that gang life behind you and debrief? >> i found myself in a position to go ahead and get a cellie after nine years. and go ahead and have basically a normal program. i was put in the position to either i kill this individual or i come this way. >> according to christian, the mexican mafia wanted him to murder his new cellie, but the igi informed our producers that christian approached them, fearing his new cellie was going to kill him. either way, dropping out is something christian never thought he would do. >> the fact that it even entered my mind, i was defeated. i knew then -- because that was never an option. it was either kill or die. that was it. you know what? the first thing that popped in my head, i'm going to go ahead and do this dude. and after sitting there rotting by myself, it finally popped in my head that, third, but unthinkable, you know, come this way as far as do th

. >> if the average sex offender must contend with inmates like knighten, it can be even worse for those whose crimes made headlines. >> periodically over these 5 1/2 years, you know, i've turned the television set on to see my face, you know, on the television set. that's pretty uncomfortable. >> we met edward mckowen in tennessee at the river bend institution. >> i was ordained as a catholic priest in nashville in january of 1970. i served as an active priest for 19 years at which time i was in effect mustered out of the priesthood because of my behavior. i am, in effect, a child molester. >> according to police investigators, mckoewen admitted to molesting 22 boys, both during and after his time as a priest. the statute of limitations had run out on all but one. it got him a 25-year sentence. >> i certainly had some anxious moments when i walked in because of the way child molesters are traditionally treated in prison, which is not very good, you know. but the truth is, i have not been mistreated at all, either by inmates or staff. >> mckowen is lucky, as sex offenders go. he's assign