i am in effect a child molester. >> according to police investigators, mckeown 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. >> and so 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. >> mckeown is lucky, as far as sex offenders go. he's assigned to the prison's one minimum security wing where most of the inmates are more interested in going home than getting in trouble. and it's not the only positive thing mckeown sees in his incarceration. >> i was a catholic priest for a long time. i was then and i am now, you know, a person of faith. i was certainly a person of faith when i was active as a priest who had a very dark secret. and i don't have that secret anymore. i don't have to hide that. i've asked god to take care of me and so far, he said, okay, i'll do that. >>> coming up --

. >> in most other prison environments, edward mckeown would be a marked man. >> i'm in effect a childr, specifically the crime that i'm here for, you know, was for a teenage boy who was i guess 13 when i began abusing him. >> mckeown is a former catholic priest serving a 25-year sentence for sexual battery and rape. >> i was then and i am now a person of faith. i was certainly a person of faith i was active as a priest who had a very dark secret. who caused a great deal of harm in individuals' lives. that secret isn't there anymore. and that's probably -- this is going to sound crazy, i guess, one of the most -- one of the biggest blessings, if you can say, about being here. now i would want to think that the outer me and the enemy are pretty much the same. i'll say to people and i'll say it again, i don't know how a person without faith does time. >> see, i hate could come in this cell. i mean, i despise this cell and any other cell and i have a lot of problems with the officers because i don't lock that door. i let them lock it. it's the worst part about doing time when you know you