. >> the "prison rape elimination act" the governor was referring to - known as prea - is a federal initiative to try to reduce the level of sexual assault in prison. it was passed in 2003-but it wasn't until almost ten years later that michigan's department of corrections began separating minors from adults. we'd heard there were several corrections officials at the event. since we'd been requesting an interview for weeks with no success, we tried approaching them directly. >> hi my name's sebastian walker, i'm with al jazeera. we wanted to know why it had taken so long for the state to act on federal findings. >> i'm not going to comment on that at this time. >> but nobody wanted to talk. here's michigan's top corrections official telling me to go and speak to his staff. >> so if we do get somebody from mdoc.. >> it'll be me. >> it'll be on your side, okay. >> eventually, this spokesperson did agree to an interview. we wanted to find out how many assault complaints the department received when youth were still being housed with adults. >> would it not be obvious that younger inmates would be

. >> the kite that you wrote got our attention immediately, with the new prea standards that the correctionnappropriate conduct we look at real serious. and that's the main reason why we took action as quick as we did and looked into it, did an investigation. interviewed you at least once or twice. okay, thank you very much, guys. >> thanks. >> a different sort of drama now plays out for joe leija. >> i'm going to get sentenced today. i'm ready to get it over with. i don't have to apologize to the victim's family, but i'm going to. i think it looks better, shows that i am sorry. >> move it, everybody has to fit in there. >> made me realize the damage that i have done to this family. i have a lot of regrets. this is one of the biggest ones i have is to kill somebody, you know. >> people versus joe leija -- >> i'm going to have a lot of family in the courtroom. my parents are going to be there, my mom, my dad. my aunt, my uncle, my brothers and sisters. it makes it way easier for me. >> as the proceedings get under way, the victim's mother takes the podium and reads her statement to the court