for one southern california teen, it was a way to escape. but cyber bullies took his escape away. >> i could barely sleep at night. i didn't want to go to school. it was, like, gut-wrenching how bad it was. >> reporter: sean spalla is a high school student in santa clarita, california. as a child, he was diagnosed with something known as soto's syndrome. >> it's an overgrowth syndrome, and it affects their whole body. >> reporter: as a young boy, sean looked different than the other kids, and being different made him an easy target for bullies. but as he grew older, he found a way to escape them by making videos and posting them on youtube. >> it's the best thing that's ever happened to me besides high school. and it's like a way for me to be welcome in the world. >> reporter: but hackers changed all that when someone took over sean's youtube identity. >> it was like you were looking at someone pretending to be you. >> he had tons of videos, and the guy renamed all of them horrible, horrible, ugly things. >> reporter: it took some time, but