is challenging the way we remember dr. martin luther king, jr.'s life. >> and why is the plastic injury out to get him? >> hunting down sharks. they're the most feared predators in the ocean but we reveal how they have more fear from us. revealing investigations, fascinating characters, stories with impact. this is "cnn present ous "with your hosts tonight soledad o'brien and sanjay gupta. >> we begin with a special investigation. it's a story that sounds all too familiar. >> catholic priests accused of abusing children and church leaders who cover it up. >> hundreds of these priests live unmonitored in unsuspecting communities. >> in some cases they live next to schools and they live next to parks. "predators in plain sight." >> reporter: here we are on a black where a molester priest lives. do you think these neighbors know about it? >> i'm certain they do not. >> reporter: ray boucher is a los angeles attorney who works with victims of sexual abuse. >> unfortunately in california and around the country, there are hundreds of priests in our communities without anybody having any understanding that there is this danger sitting there in the middle of their communities. >> reporter: boucher's firm tracked down accused pedophile priests living all over the country and compiled a list of their addresses. how does that make you feel living across the street from a guy on the list like that? >> i have to really think about this and be cautious with kids. i didn't know it. i'm dumbfounded. >> reporter: nearly 6,000 priests have been accused of molesting children in the u.s. since the 1950s, according to the u.s. conference of bishops. very few of those accused ever make it to a criminal trial. often because by the time victims come forward, the statute of limitations for the crime has passed. at that time even if the priest admits to the abuse, he cannot go to jail. >> the only reason they weren't con vbd is because the church gave them a safe harbor and hid them. if the church had done what every school, civic organization faced with sexual abuse should have done at the time, which is alert the police, these priests would have been arrested. >> reporter: boucher says this former priest is one example. sutfin is accused of molesting 18 boys. even though he admits he's guilty, he's never been convicted. his victims came forward too late. now 79 years old, we fond him living in venture a, california, about 90 miles north of los angeles. you have admitted to child molestation. do you think the public should know where you live? the public doesn't know where you live. do you think the public should know? i wanted to give you your comment, give you a chance to speak. >> reporter: next we traveled to another town north of l.a., the upscale west lake village, a community filled with families. that's where we fond 56-year-old former priest kevin barmay. he is accused of molesting eight boys. he never commented. but the church found the allegations credible and defrocked him in 2006. he's never had a criminal trial. that's his apartment. you can see the red light. we see his head bopping around. we'll try and see if he will come to the door. he would not answer the door. >> i want the church to put out information about where these individuals live and to bring these priests back in to a place where they are safe, safe for themselves and safe for the communities. >> unfortunately, they've never been convicted. they're private citizens so they're free to move about and live where they want to. >> reporter: todd tamberg is the spokesman for the los angeles archdiocese. could the church have done more to get convictions when you look back at it? >> we sent them to treatment and in some cases they were reassigned to other duties. >> reporter: let me stop you for a second, though. i'm wondering if the church as a whole here looks back at it and says that wasn't a good way to deal with it. >> looking back now at what we did back then, i think it was the wrong thing to do. we relied too often on the stories of the priests themselves. we thought too much about their well being than the victims'. >> reporter: that's a startling admission. it's honest -- >> well, it's true. >> reporter: tamberg says the church today notifies the police immediately if a child comes forward with an allegation of abuse. but it's too late for the people who say they were abused by this former priest. nicholas rivera, who is now an international fugitive, wanted in the u.s. and mexico. >> back then there were 26 victims. >> reporter: former almost apd detective worked on this case for more than 20 years. >> back on january 11, 1988, around 8:30 in the morning we got a call via the police radio and we were directed to go to this particular school in east l.a. >> reporter: he arrived to find four children who said they were molested. >> it was horrible because what the kids were telling us. >> reporter: but seacard never had a chance to question agular. >> we went to interview the priest and they told us he's no longer here, he's gone. he was taken to mexico. >> reporter: church officials found out about the alleged abuse on a friday. the officials met with agular on saturday. this police report indicates the priest told them he planned to return to mexico at the beginning of the week. police were notified monday morning, but it was too late. >> we made a call to i think child protective services, nobody was answering the phone, it was 5:00 on a friday. so monday morning the call was made, the notification was made and aguilera rivera fled without telling anybody. >> if we were able to get hands on him, he would have been detained. >> reporter: after he fled, more reports of abuse surfaced. the district attorney filed a warrant charging agular with 19 counts of lewd acts against a child. when we come back, we travel to mexico to look for accused child molester nicholas agular riff air remarks the former priest who authorities say is impossible to find. you recognize him? 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'cuz robots work for free. robot 1:good morning... robot 1:...female child. sfx: modem dial-up noise woman: are there flaws? yeah, um, maybe. anncr: there's an easier way to save. anncr: get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. we've been investigating hundreds of catholic priests accused of abuse and then allowed to blend back into society. alarmingly no one keeps track of where they live. one of the most notorious is a priest who fled to mexico after being accused of molesting dozens of children. police say they can't find him. but that doesn't stop our gary tuckman. >> reporter: mexico city, population 20 million, not a bad place to hide if you're a fugitive, except fugitive nicholas agular rivera doesn't have anyone looking for him. he fled los angeles in 1988 charged with molesting ten children. still a priest, he surfaced four years later, assigned to this church in mexico city. joaquin mendes remembers him vividly. >> translator: i met him being an altar boy. he became a close friend of my family. honestly his presence made me feel uncomfortable. his breath smelled really bad. it was a disgusting smell. even now i feel the scars of those memories. >> reporter: joaquin was 13 years old when he says agular called him in his bedroom at the church. >> translator: so he said come on in, let me show you some music tapes i made. so i go in and he forced me to pull down my pants. he raped me. i got away from him however i could. he threatened me not to say anything to my family because if i did, he was going to do the same thing to my brother. >> reporter: but joaquin found the courage to come forward. he told his parents and they went to the police. >> translator: they never arrested him but that's the law in mexico. the investigation continued while he was free. >> reporter: agular left mexico city in 1995. over the next ten years he continued working as a priest in small towns in this mexican state. >> monster. >> reporter: this journalist has interviewed many who say they were molested by agular. she's also interviewed agular. >> yes, etalked to him. i was angry and excited, saying i can't believe he was talking with me. >> reporter: he denied the allegations, including the accusations made by joaquin mendes. we spoke to two men who are afraid to show their faces. they say agular molested them as young boys. >> translator: he said if i told anyone, he will kill my parents, my brothers. >> translator: he had me come into his room. he locked the door can a key and then he started to touch my private parts. >> reporter: five formal complaints have been filed against agular since his return to mexico in 1988. he's wanted for statutory rape but authorities tell us they've lost his trail. we decided to look for agular ourselves. we got a lead that he was last seen in this town two hours south of mexico city. yes, you do. you recognize him? >> translator: yes, i've seen him twice. >> reporter: a local farmer takes us to a bus stop where he most recently saw agular. we asked him if he recognized agular from the news. >> translator: yes, that's why i came with you. because i've seen him. >> reporter: at the bus stop we meet a woman who tells us she's seen him regularly. she has no idea about his past. >> translator: i saw him on the bus and he said i should take care of my baby. that was all. >> reporter: she agrees to show us where she says agular gets off the bus. unfortunately once in the neighborhood the people we meet say they don't know him and our trail runs cold. back in mexico city the spokesman for the archdiocese says the church has no further responsibility for agular. >> translator: here in mexico city we have no news of victims. >> reporter: he says the church disputes of claim of rape by joaquin mendes but he acknowledges agular may be guilty of other abuse. >> translator: i'm not saying he may not have done things. we have the impression that he did. the church has done what needed to be done. it suspended agular. he is no longer a priest. >> reporter: but church officials did not defrock agular until 2009, years after they knew about the abuse. he told us it's no the church's job to hunt downs suspects. >> translator: this is a job for the police. >> reporter: do you think that one day he will be arrested here in mexico? >> i don't think so. >> gary joins us now. so theoretically could agular face charges in the united states if he's arrested? >> well, the charges still stand. what prosecutors in southern california are telling us is if mexican authorities arrest him, if he was to be extradited, they would continue the prosecution. police in mexico are telling us they can't find him and church officials in mexico tell us they have no interest in finding him. the police tell us when we were there, we immediately found people who just saw agular. we were directed to a flabd where he lives and visits frequently and we're just reporters, we don't have sent as but if we were with police who had search warrants, i'm convinced they could have found him quickly. >> it's notable the los angeles archdiocese acknowledged there was improper conduct and handled it inappropriately. >> it was notable to have the spokesperson admit fault and admit perhaps we should have called the police -- not perhaps, we should have called the police back then, it was a mistake. and it was important in telling us that the archdiocese isn't doing this anymore, they're doing it right. we sure hope that's the case. coming up, a play that has broadway buzzing with one of its figures, dr. martin luther king, jr. he largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. 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[ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. i've reported several documentaries about dr. martin luther king jr. so i was intrigued by a new star-studded play that opened recently on broadway. it's called "the mountaintop." the way it portrays the last night of dr. king's life has people talking. and the playwright, katori hall, wasn't even born when dr. king was killed. but she says her play makes king look more real. >> we've got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn't matter with me now. because i've been to the mountaintop. i don't mind. >> reporter: wednesday, april 3rd, 1968. >> mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord! >> reporter: the last speech dr. king ever gave. memphis's mason temple. he finished exhausted and returned to the nearby lorraine motel. his favorite room, 306. it was the last night of his life. have you ever had a chance to be inside dr. king's actual room at the lorraine motel? >> no. only in my imagination. >> reporter: really? playwright katori hall has imagined dr. king's last night for almost 30 years of her life. they never let anyone in this room. almost never. >> yeah. >> reporter: this is all the way the room was when he died. >> mm-hmm. it is so small. it's too small to contain his dreams. you know? wow. >> reporter: now, hall has vividly brought that last night to life in a controversial play that's electrifying theatergoers. it's an unusual and very human take on dr. king. he drinks and smokes. he curses. he flirts. >> do you think i should shave off my mustache? >> i like the fact that it was just about, you know, dr. king being in a room and not being that iconic speech making, marching, protesting man that we knew. >> mustache? no mustache? >> reporter: academy award nominee samuel l. jackson plays dr. king. >> it was an opportunity to create a dr. king that we don't ordinarily associate with people who were that large. >> reporter: is there a risk to that? >> it's not a risk to me. it's an opportunity. >> reporter: an opportunity both jackson and co-star angela bassett couldn't pass up. >> i love that he is seen as, and my character says this a couple times, sugar, shush. you just a man. >> reporter: the idea was inspired by katori's mother. carrie mae. >> she grew up around the corner from the lorraine motel. and when dr. king came to speak in support of the sanitation workers strike at mason temple, she wanted to go. and she asked her mother can she go to mason temple to hear dr. king speak. and big mama told her, no, you are not going to go. somebody's going to bomb that church. you know they're out to kill that man. and my mother was like, that's one of my biggest regrets. i never got a chance to hear him speak. >> i would tell katori that story basically about every time black history came about. and it just kept going on. martin luther king became one of her favorite peoples. >> reporter: hall grew up with that story walking her mother's childhood streets. >> this entire street was just, you know, full of people. miss ida. miss ruth. >> reporter: she calls memphis her muse. where she found inspiration. and her fighting spirit. >> i was the first black valedictorian. i had heard a rumor at school that the powers that be were going to change the march into alphabetical order. we weren't going to walk in according to rank. i would be with the hs. when carrie mae hall heard about that, my mama, said you ain't going to do that to my child. you know, i ended up walking in first. >> reporter: hall received a full scholarship to columbia university. an actor, she found few roles written for women of color. >> i was taken an acting class, and a teacher, you know, told me and my acting partner to go to the library that get a play that had a scene between two young black women. we really struggled. that's when i was like, i got to write some plays, then. >> reporter: hall has written nearly a dozen plays since. she was only 26 when she finished "the mountaintop." >> it's a gift. she was meant to do it. >> i did feel even at a young age that i had walked this earth before. >> reporter: you're an old soul. >> yeah. >> reporter: in 2009 in london, it opened to rave reviews and top awards. in retrospect, was it easier to go to london because people don't have that same ferocious love and respect for dr. king? >> absolutely. absolutely. there's cultural distance. they were also very open to judging the play on its own merits and not, you know, being disturbed over the human portrayal of dr. king. >> reporter: close to home, on broadway, there's more at stake. some are disturbed by the portrayal. >> i actually have lost 12 pounds in the past month due to stress. i have had a lot of sleepless nights. >> reporter: a lot of pressure for one of broadway's youngest playwrights. >> i would feel really sad if people didn't understand that what i'm trying to do is to show that we all can be kings and all great people are human. it just shows that a human being was able to change the world. and you can change the world, too. >> fear makes us human. >> katori! katori, down here! >> so that moment, she's walking into the room for the first time. i mean, she's written about it obviously. what was the moment like for her? >> you know, she was so nervous going in i literally thought she might pass out. she was so anxious about it. but when we went in, she actually, big talker, she stopped talking. and she started focusing on every detail. the cigarettes in the ashtray. what was the look of the bedspread. what was in the bathroom. as a playwright she homed in on the details. she said to me, i'm not sure i got his story exactly right. it's a story from my imagination. but, really, all these years later, we'll never really know what dr. king's last night was like. >> fascinating. and for a writer, again, to be in there for the first time having written this whole thing, just absolutely remarkable. thanks, soledad. >> for me, too. >> for you as well. thank you. coming up, plastic bags. they're everywhere. and you won't believe where they end up. you're about to meet an activist who's out to get rid of them. >> you keep feeding the bag monster. i can reproduce. >> as you might imagine, the companies who make plastic bags, well, they're not too happy. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the peace of mind of owning a 2011 iihs top safety pick. the all-new volkswagen passat. you know what else is early? 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