i knew immediately at that moment, something unthinkably wrong had just happened. >> tv's beloved dad and minister on the outrageous claims. >> did you have to fight an urge to do this? >> his darkest sexual demons caught on tape. >> your fans are pretty devasta devastated. >> now, from "seventh heaven" to a living hell. what comes next? >> are there any other women out

there? >>fall from grace. plus, a s.w.a.t. team storming the home. the little son seriously injured in the blast. >> this should have never happened. >> what went so horribly wrong? >> have the tactics changed? >> now, with $1 million in medical debts, there's no christmas until "20/20" shows up. all i want for christmas. and, the nightmare before christmas, he turned into the grinch. wrecking the halls instead of decking them. they're getting even with scrooge. tonight, elizabeth vargas and

david muir. >> we start with the bomb shell confessions, stephen collins. >> tonight, the actor best known as a minister on "seventh heaven" speaks exclusively to katie couric. >> reporter: in a town notorious for its toxic break-ups, few have been as bitter as the family feud between the actor stephen collins and his wife, faye grant. >> this morning, the scandal surrounding actor stephen collins gets uglier by the day. >> reporter: married 29 years, they seemed to be a hollywood anomaly, the picture perfect couple. but little did we know -- >> i've always said this, marriage is absolutely unfathomable. you think you understand someone else's marriage, nobody does. nobody does. >> reporter: a steady presence in both movies and television for the last 40 years, collins has played everything from a

nixon aide in "all the president's men" -- >> what happened on june 17th, i don't think the president knew anything about. >> reporter: to a straight-laced starship captain in "star trek" -- >> admiral kirk, well we're getting a top brass send off. >> reporter: to diane keaton's estranged husband in "the first wives club." >> think of yourself, yourself, yourself. if you go through with this, i'll have nothing. >> reporter: but he's best known as reverend eric camden, father of seven and pillar of the community for 11 seasons on the hit series, "seventh heaven." >> i think god put you on hold. i think god brought you here. >> reporter: offscreen, he seemed to practice what he preached, volunteering at soup kitchens and serving communion at his local church. but beneath that squeaky clean image, collins was hiding a secret. did it feel like you were living a double life in any way? >> no, but we're all made of dark parts and light parts.

i know that other people are going to judge and doubt. all i can do is tell my truth. >> reporter: the story exploded this fall when tmz released audio of collins and his wife while they were undergoing marriage counseling. audio that included admissions of his sexual misconduct with three underage girls decades ago. >> there was once instance. >> there was one instance what? >> i told you before there was one instance, where for, there was one moment of touching. >> reporter: unbeknownst to collins, faye had secretly recorded every disturbing word. when did you realize she was wearing a wire? >> she took me into a stairwell. and she told me there. she revealed that -- she said, "i recorded. i was wearing a wire. i recorded that session." and she said, "here's our settlement. you're gonna sign it now.

or this, that recording, is gonna find its way to the media." >> reporter: grant denies being the source of the leak but the fallout was fast and furious. he was dropped from a recurring role on abc's "scandal," ironically, and fired from the set of the soon-to-be released comedy "ted 2." >> he played a sweet, sympathetic reverend on television, but now in real life he's accused of being a monster. >> reporter: the news about that sordid recording instantly destroyed a reputation he had spent decades building and publically branded him as a sexual predator. the first incident was in 1973. you were 25 years old. >> right. >> how old was the victim? >> she was 10. >> reporter: tell us what happened. >> well, in 1973, there were two

occasions when i exposed myself to this young woman. and several months later, she came to visit and she and i were watching t.v. alone together. and i -- took her hand and moved it in such a way that she was touching me inappropriately. i knew that something unthinkably wrong had just happened that i couldn't take back. and i -- i think we both just sat there. we really didn't move a muscle. and after about -- what i recall was about 45 seconds, i -- took her hand and moved it back. i waited a couple of minutes, 'cause i just didn't know what to do or say. and then i got up and left the room. >> reporter: but a decade later, in the same year he met his

wife on the set of "tales of the gold monkey," it happened again. >> there were two times in 1982, 20 years ago in 1994, when i -- i exposed myself to two different teenage girls. there was no physical contact of any kind with either of them. >> reporter: do you remember the look on these girls' faces? >> the look on the one in 1982 was such that it immediately just stopped everything cold. it was clear that she was disoriented and frightened. and that just made me want to stop and cover up. and i did. >> reporter: how old were -- were these girls in 1982 and 1994? >> they were 13 and 14. >> reporter: did you find this sexually gratifying? >> not at all. i mean, not at all. it was not exciting. it was not gratifying. there was no gratification.

>> reporter: then why did you do it? >> it was a combination of poor impulse control, arrogance, 25-year-old arrogance. >> reporter: when was the first moment you realized that you had these impulses? an attraction to prepubescent or underage girls? >> no. no. that -- that's the thing, and -- i absolutely do not have that attraction. i have -- i -- i am not attracted to underage girls. keep in mind that the only time there was any physical contact with an underage girl was in 1973. and the incident in 1982, god help me, took -- took advantage. that's not the right word. but i -- i acted impulsively again. >> reporter: i think "taking advantage" may be an appropriate term. >> well, it -- maybe it is

exactly the right word. >> reporter: are you a pedophile? >> i do not fit the either clinical or dictionary definition of it, but i'm absolutely not attracted, physically or sexually attracted to children. >> reporter: never tempted? >> no. >> reporter: never had the urge? that seems sort of weird to me, if this was a pattern of behavior, that you could go for several years and not have that inclination. >> because i didn't walk around thinking, "oh boy, i could do something now, but no, i'm not going to." i don't white-knuckle this. this is not something i'm -- i'm not fighting. it's not like if i miss therapy next week something's gonna happen. >> reporter: are there any other women out there? >> no. >> reporter: no one else is going to come forward and say, "this happened to me in 1987." >> i can't guarantee you what someone might do. but i can tell you that if they were doing that, it would not be truthful.

>> reporter: for the past 20 years, he says, he's been in intensive therapy, which has included therapeutic workshops, religious counseling and a 12-step program. and in discussing that difficult journey of self-discovery, collins speculates that something he experienced in his own childhood may have contributed to his behavior. >> have you figured out any other reason why you would do -- do this repeatedly? >> the thing that makes the most sense to me, and it's not an excuse, 'cause none of this is an excuse. but i did have someone in my life when i was between the age of about 10 and 15, an older woman, who repeatedly exposed herself to me. and i -- i think that that distorted my perception in such a way that some part of me thought, because -- i never felt like i was molested. never occurred to me, that word

never crossed my mind as a 10 to 15-year-old boy. it was a very intense experience. but i think somewhere in my brain i got the equation of, well, this isn't so terrible. i mean this person who i trust is -- is doing it. >> reporter: when a woman exposes herself, i mean, what are you referring to? she lifted her shirt? what does that mean exactly? >> being in various states of undress, or complete undress. >> reporter: and this happened on several occasions? >> yes, quite a few times. >> reporter: that may elicit some eye rolls by people listening to this. "oh, okay, this is why he did that." >> it's not why i did it. i'm not blaming her. i'm just saying, "i think that's an aspect that went into my own distorted thinking as a young man." >> reporter: i'm trying to understand exhibitionism, sort of, as a pattern. is it about power? is it about seeing someone shocked? what -- what motivates it?

>> i think it is about power, but not consciously. there is a statement that says "figuring it out is the booby prize." that sounds odd. what that means to a lot of people in recovery is you can figure it out, you can intellectually understand it, but what's important is what your behavior is. i'm still in regular therapy. i always will be out of respect for those women and it's just not going to happen again and it hasn't and i feel very confident that it won't. >> reporter: until now, collins has kept a low public profile. avoiding all questions about the scandal and his nasty divorce. tonight, in a statement, faye grant said his statements are false and are an attempt to me to deflect. i hope he gets the help he needs. why did you want to do this interview?

>> the truth as painful as it is, is less painful than the stuff that was flying around the internet and some of the rumors. >> reporter: the former reverend camden may have fallen from grace, but he says he's constantly atoning for the harm he caused three young girls years ago. >> i think of those women -- every day. and i would say, "with all my heart, i am sorry for what i put you through, and i want you to know that nothing like that will ever happen again." >> reporter: in real life, i know that you're a person of faith. has this made you lose faith, or has it made your faith stronger? >> in the church, christ said in so many ways, "bring me that which -- about you which is broken. bring it."

i'm a human being. i have faults, but i know i have a really good heart. and that in spite of these things, that i'm a good man trying to be a better man. >> while the statute of limitations has expired, there is an open investigation in new york city. should he be held accountable in some way? >> use ##abc2020. >> and a s.w.a.t. team busting in, the baby's recovery is remarkable. >> a tree for a family decimated when a s.w.a.t. team raided

their home by accident and their baby was horribly injured. >> what did my son do to them? >> now, who is going to pay their $1 million in hospital bills? >> that's a good question. >> you bet it is. coming up. ♪ my baby drove up in a brand new cadillac. ♪ ♪ look here, daddy, i'm never coming back... ♪ discover the new spirit of cadillac and the best offers of the season. lease this 2015 standard collection ats for around $329 a month.

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imagine the horror of this. your family asleep in their home, blasted by an explosion. a police s.w.a.t. team targeting your home, and now a $1 million medical bill for a baby. so, who's going to pay, liter literally? here's matt gutman. >> reporter: buying a christmas tree -- a cherished tradition during the holidays. >> here's our tree. >> reporter: but for one family in wisconsin, struck by tragedy, christmas seemed out of reach. enter "20/20." so the family knows that i'm coming, but they have no idea what i'm bringing with me -- desperately needed good cheer.

instead of a sack of toys this year, alecia and bounkham phonesavnh are stuck with this sack of bills. and this is just part of it. these are just the doctor's bills. last spring, their house burned down. they sought refuge in georgia. two parents and four young children, crammed into garage. they thought they'd finally found refuge until one night last may, when an explosion jolted them out of sleep. >> i didn't know what was going on. i knew that there had been an explosion. >> reporter: at about 2:00 a.m., a fully-armored s.w.a.t. team rammed down the door looking for a local drug dealer. instead they found a family with four small children. an officer had thrown in a flash bang grenade to stun those inside. >> bou bou started screaming. >> reporter: but it landed in a crib where alecia's youngest child -- 18-month-old bou bou

was sleeping. >> and then my son starts screaming and i just go for him, and the other officer grabs him first and i never even got to see his face. >> reporter: officers whisked bou bou away in an ambulance. they told his parents he was fine. >> i asked, where is he? what happened? your son just lost a tooth. he's okay. >> reporter: your son just lost a tooth? when they finally arrived at the hospital to take their baby home, a social worker told them the truth. >> she told me that our son was in the burn trauma unit. and i lost it. >> reporter: a flash-bang grenade had blasted a hole in this face and torso. doctors say bou bou might not survive. >> it seemed like he just kept getting worse every day. >> i thought i was, we were losing him slowly. >> reporter: they kept him in a medically induced coma for over five weeks. >> it's just not fair. this should never have happened. we should not be sitting here right now.

what did my son do to them? >> reporter: the s.w.a.t. team was hunting for this man who, police say, sold meth to a confidential informant outside the home where the family was staying. problem was, the suspect lived across town. >> they raided the wrong house. they did not do their job. >> toddler burned by a flash grenade. >> reporter: two days later the man in charge of the raid, habersham county sheriff joey terrell went public. >> we just knew there wasn't children in there. we had our minds set on what the game plan was to go in and do it. >> reporter: odd since the phonesavanhs had been there for two months. >> if they would have done their job at all, any kind of surveillance, they would've known their suspect did not live there and that there were plenty of children in that house. >> reporter: according to alecia, the family's minivan was parked in the driveway with their four car seats in it. >> with the doors closed, you

can see car seats. >> reporter: and decals on the back window showing three children and a stroller. so this is the door. >> this is the actual door right here. still has the damages. >> reporter: marcus coleman is a local community activist. so they busted through here. tossed the grenade in. he took us into the converted garage where the family slept that night, they say, under the glow of a giant flat screen tv they used as a night light. cartoons were on. >> i believe they were. any due diligence of police work before coming in, in such a militarized fashion would've prevented this tragedy. >> reporter: so we've come here to habersham county sheriff's office to try to get some answers from the sheriff himself. good morning. he's a big man with little to say. i just want to ask you a couple of questions about the phonesavanh family. >> i can't answer any questions under advice of counsel. >> reporter: clearly there was a tragic mistake. >> you know not going to get off on tactics with you, not going to get off in the weeds on it. >> reporter: lot of weeds here,

huh? >> there's tons of weeds. >> reporter: have the tactics changed? >> we've examined everything we do. we've trained with other teams. and there's not going to be a real good answer to that one, is there? >> reporter: since we couldn't find answers in habersham county, georgia, we found a s.w.a.t. team in florida to demonstrate how to safely deploy a flash bang grenade. >> sheriff's office! search warrant! >> reporter: this is what it looks like. >> there's a time and place for it. we don't use it very often. >> reporter: we went back to georgia, where habersham district attorney brian rickman convened a grand jury to look into the botched raid. but as in the recent cases in ferguson, missouri, and staten island, new york, which sparked protests across the nation, the citizens of habersham county found no grounds to charge any of the officers involved with a crime.

if you are responsible for a flash bang and you deploy that flash bang into a pack-and-play and nearly kill an 18-month-old toddler, how is that not criminally negligent? >> if we had any evidence that they knew the pack-and-play was there, you're in the criminal sector there. >> reporter: good information, such as a minivan with four car seats right in front of the front door? >> that's a good point. but once those s.w.a.t. team guys are out of the car, once that "point of no return" has passed, it's not criminally negligent for them not to have investigated that van. >> reporter: but the broward swat team says that there's no such thing as a "point of no return." they can't deloy a flash bang if there's any sign of children. have you ever had to not deploy, not throw the device? >> we'll say, "we're not deploying." and we'll remove ourself from the situation. >> reporter: when you deploy it, is it supposed to hit skin or flesh or touch anyone?

>> no. >> reporter: do you think anybody from that swat team did anything wrong? >> there were mistakes made. the intelligence on the front end, is how the tragedy could have been avoided. >> reporter: that intelligence was gathered by a drug unit that was disbanded one day after we rolled into town and confronted sheriff terrell. and guess who oversees that unit's budget -- sheriff terrell among others. you're involved, intimately, in the workings of this unit. seems like a conflict of interest. >> it's not a legal conflict of interest. >> reporter: four years ago, undercover officers in the same drug unit shot and killed unarmed pastor jonathan ayers at this gas station. earlier this year, his pregnant widow was awarded $2.3 million in a wrongful death suit. and guess who convened the grand jury in that case? were there any criminal charges after the pastor ayers shooting? >> with respect to the death, there were no criminal charges. >> reporter: so, no criminal charges there, and no criminal charges with respect to the phonesavanh case. >> that's correct.

>> reporter: sure is easy for law enforcement to hurt people and get away with it in that area, isn't it? >> is that a question, or -- >> reporter: yeah, that's a question. are there any repercussions for law enforcement officials and officers who are involved in seriously injuring someone or killing them in your jurisdiction? >> yes. >> reporter: criminal repercussions. >> nobody went to jail. >> why can't they just say, you know, "i'm sorry. we've messed up. we're gonna make things right." >> reporter: has the sheriff or anybody from habersham county ever apologized? >> no. >> reporter: has anybody ever called you to say, "we're sorry"? >> we have not received any phone calls. no cards, no teddy bears, no balloons. no, nothing on bou bou's behalf at all. >> reporter: after nearly six weeks, bou bou toddled out of the hospital, with more than $800,000 in medical bills. which the county refused to pay. >> before this we had no debt. we didn't owe anybody anything.

and now after all this, you know, they have completely financially crippled us. >> reporter: we've decided to crash the habersham county board of commissioners meeting to try to get some answers from the folks here about why it is that they refuse to pay for any of the family's substantial medical bills. we cornered county manager phillip sutton. >> it is not legal for the county to authorize payments for the medical bills. >> reporter: this is a family that nearly lost their son. his face was nearly blown apart. a hole. >> i can't discuss this anymore. >> reporter: the sheriff said "send the bills to the county." >> the sheriff can't make a commitment like that. >> reporter: the phonesavanhs, buckling under medical bills now topping a million dollars, are planning to sue the county, struggling every day. but today, at least for a few hours, there's some christmas cheer -- with new toys, a twinkling tree and a little boy, grinning again.

>> so, our question here tonight, who do you think should be responsible for the medical bills? use #abc2020. >> and you can find more investigation on our website, abcnews.com. we'll be right back. next -- they're being naughty. not nice. christmas culprits. stealing presents off your porch. >> that's low-down. >> but the real shocker? driving a bmw as the getaway car. >> mr. grinch. >> make that mrs. grinch. >> why did you take those packages? >> when we come back.

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this is something this holiday, if you see someone rush up on to your porch, it may be to take a present, not leave one. once again, matt gutman looking at a different time of holiday gift grab. >> reporter: it's that most wonderful time of the year. the holiday greetings, the cookies left for santa, the presents under the tree. and grinches lurking nearby. ♪ you're a mean one mr. grinch >> reporter: this season over 1.3 billion packages will be shipped, and every year the halls are decked with new faces of crooked criminals swiping

holiday cheer right off your front porch, taking advantage of your online shopping to fill their stockings. just this week video released of a scrooge in baton rouge taking one family's christmas delivery. in san diego this woman even brought a u-haul -- yes, a u-haul -- to haul off her stolen loot. there's this guy in maryland. this guy in texas. and our favorite of the season, this woman in west virginia, peeking in the door, trying the handle and casually stealing holiday packages off ryan and marti ruth's doorstep. what was in the packages? a soccer ball and plastic cars. >> reporter: so your kids' christmas gifts? >> correct. >> reporter: that is lowdown. but she didn't stop at the toys. she actually swiped the wreath right off the front door. i mean, the lady took your wreath. that's just crazy. who takes a wreath? >> it's funny now. but i probably could have killed her.

>> yeah. >> starting in october, early part of october, we start seeing an increase in the number of packages that are reported stolen. >> reporter: detective john bennett of the washington county sheriff's office says these crimes are so popular because they're so easy to pull off. >> it's a total opportunity crime. run up to the porch, grab the package.. it's a matter of seconds. >> reporter: and this year's been busier than ever for his department because of this stolen bicycle. police tracked it to this house and got a big surprise. >> they found many, many items that they believed to be stolen packages. >> reporter: over 100 packages in all. >> many of the items that were still in the actual shipping box had addresses and names that didn't belong to that address or anyone associated to that address. >> reporter: and now, just in time for christmas,

detective bennett is taking on a new role, one that usually comes with a red suit and a beard. >> hello, how are you? so one of my favorite things to do is to return property to people that have had it stolen from them. especially this time of year, i feel a little bit like santa. >> it's seriously -- it's like an early christmas gift and our kids really need these. so, yeah, thank you. >> that's great. >> reporter: he's just one of the people fighting back against pesky package pilferers. back in west virginia ryan ruth coupled the power of surveillance cameras with social media to take down his unlikely scrooge. so she came here, took packages, went back to the car, did another round, took the wreath, and then went back downstairs, down the hill. >> yes. >> correct. >> reporter: to the back door of your house. >> yes. >> reporter: thanks to that high-tech security system that includes four cameras around his house, ryan was able to go straight to the videotape. there it is.

>> yup, here it is. while i'm watching this, i see the footsteps. and i'm just expecting to see a guy here. and you see it's a female, obviously. and then you see she goes out to the driveway, puts the packages on her bmw. >> reporter: that's right, the getaway car, a beemer. you don't expect someone to pull up with a bmw. >> well dressed, older lady. >> reporter: right. the color of her hair, the color of the wreath, the packages. it's all so bright and clear. >> yes. >> well, i was like, "she just had her highlights done." >> reporter: ryan took to social media to show those highlights off to a much wider audience. >> i knew if we put this on facebook, someone would know who it was. and sure enough, i put it on there tuesday morning, by tuesday night, we basically had our name. >> reporter: how many views did you get that day? >> it was around a half a million. >> reporter: wow. >> in one day. >> reporter: the story got so much attention online and in the local media that within 24 hours 63-year-old deborah davis turned herself in to police. >> she comes down. she talks to us.

and she says that it was a prank, but they got the wrong house. but police quickly determined that her story was a lie, and they found something else out too. she also went outside, around the house, and said she urinated in the bushes. >> yes. she said that she needed to use the restroom. and she was trying to get inside the house for that purpose. >> reporter: so that explains why she tried the handle, both in the front and the back. >> that's what she said. >> reporter: deborah davis was arrested and charged with attempted burglary and petty larceny, and the ruths say they want to see her behind bars. >> i think she does need something for a wakeup call to say, "hey, you cannot do this." >> reporter: she ended up becoming probably the most infamous suspect in all of west virginia. >> yes. people called her the grinch. >> well, i think it was the wreath. >> reporter: it was the wreath. you can't get over that? >> no, i can not.

>> reporter: we wanted to know what turned deborah davis into a grinch, so we paid her a visit at her tastefully decorated colonial. note her festive wreath right there. mrs. davis, this is matt gutman from "20/20." i can hear you talking to the dogs behind the door. why did you take those packages, and why did you take the wreath? maybe the dogs know. davis has returned the ruth family's packages, and they're now wrapped up safely under the tree. and best of all for marti ruth, her wreath is back where it belongs. don't mess with this lady's wreath. >> exactly. >> that's right. next, the bah humbug award goes to this guy. when they didn't like his lights, he declared war with a nightmare christmas. but it's no silent night when we

go after him. when "20/20" returns. ♪ ♪you better pledge your allegiance♪

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some towns attract big crowds for their incredible christmas decorations. but this story, a nasty neighbor wrecking the halls instead of decking them. one neighbor called it the christmas from hell. here's debra roberts with the town that got scrooged. >> reporter: 'twas the week before christmas and all through the night, the glow of houses blanketed with lights, lights, lights. bright, dazzling excess. you may think it's over the top unless you've been to this

neighborhood in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. home to the modern day scrooge on fairley road. >> bah, humbug. >> he's an angry person. >> any opportunity he has to make our life a hardship, he does. >> reporter: he is bill ansell, an electrician by day who neighbors say uses his skills to terrorize them at night. all year long. take a look at his holiday horror display. a beheaded choir. a hanging mickey mouse. even the jolly old man is being naughty, not nice. >> and the santa, the urinating santa. >> we tried hard to get that stopped. >> does that actually work? >> yes. it lights up at night. >> reporter: chris and joanne hebda have been staring at this nightmare before christmas display every day for the last six years. because fairley road is a circular street with bill's house smack in the middle.

so there's no sense of peace here at all? >> he gives new definition to the word "relentless." >> it almost sounds like you're a hostage in your own home. >> exactly! >> reporter: the hebdas moved here 30 years ago thinking it was a happy place to raise their kids. their neighbors did too, until ansell went all bah-humbug on them. tacked up all over his house are profane personalized signs attacking both the township and the neighbors. how many of you have been the target of these vulgar signs? show of hands. >> i believe everybody has. >> reporter: what is the worst thing he's said in these signs? >> we can't even repeat it. >> reporter: in fact, some are so perverse we can't even show them to you. this heartless message turned up the day after tom white's wife died. >> why would somebody even do that? >> reporter: we wondered the same thing until we stumbled upon a ghost of christmas past. this display is dedicated to ross township. shame on you for destroying my display that brought so much joy

and happiness to so many people. it seems that years ago, before all this darkness there was light. bright lights. christmas lights. who'd guess that this happy holiday home was bill ansel's? turns out he was a christmas fanatic. but one thanksgiving, neighbor, pam heck asked bill to tone it down a little while her family had dinner. >> it was very unpleasant between us after that. >> reporter: and it went downhill from there. >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: that was the moment this christmas tale took a twisted turn. >> they hated my display. >> reporter: he decided to deck the halls with boughs of hatred. replacing his twinkling lights with flood lights, blasting them nightly into his neighbors' windows. >> it'll be 3:00 in the morning, and all of the sudden you'll hear bang, bang, bang. and he's underneath a tarp with a sledgehammer, hammering in the middle of the night to wake up the entire neighborhood. >> reporter: they're trapped. friends and family won't visit and they can't even sell their

homes. >> you're a prisoner on your own street. it can come down to a matter just of leave the house empty and move. >> reporter: pam says the stress of it all led to her divorce. >> it was a strain every day. i would always be saying, "stand up for me, do something. he's almost hit me today, you know, with his car." >> reporter: the residents of fairley road are at their wits' end. they say they've called police dozens of times, filed multiple lawsuits against ansell, even tried killing him with kindness. >> we would take pies over to him. >> he threw the pies on the street afterwards. >> reporter: now, even the mere sight of her neighbor strikes fear in joanne hebda. >> oh, there he is. he's coming out. >> reporter: we tried approaching ansell. we want to ask you a couple of questions, bill. do you have anything to say? >> get off my property. >> reporter: and he clearly means it. the sign says he'll shoot. bill, it's deborah roberts from abc news, can i talk to you? his only response was this.

>> get away from my car! >> reporter: he was in no mood to talk. has the town made any attempt to do anything? >> not to our knowledge. >> we ask them to enforce the code, but so far it hasn't been done. >> reporter: they say the town has done nothing more than fine ansell. but in a statement, ross township told us, they've taken and will continue to take appropriate legal action. >> the court order is to clean the debris up in the yard. >> reporter: in reply, ansell has simply ignored the court order. and unlike ebenezer scrooge, there's no happy ending. no christmas miracle in sight for fairley road. >> we decided that we would rent our home for probably way lower than it should be. >> reporter: is it going to be a financial hardship, trying to move? >> oh yes. it will. it's a move for our lives. you know, to have normalcy again. >> reporter: can you still enjoy it, the season? >> yeah, if you go somewhere

else. >> yeah, you have to go somewhere else. >> so, when everything else fails, what would you do? let us know on twitter, use #abc2020. >> when we come back, a mother finally able to spend christmas with her family for the first time in seven years. where has she been? when we return, you'll find out. is my vow: s with up to 10,000 loose diamonds and our amazing settings, i will help you create a one-of-a-kind ring that can only be described as... what's the word i'm looking for? perfect! that's the word. followed by one more. yes! and that's why he went to jared. the galleria of jewelry. with a favorite book is nice. but i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing:

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one-on-one with filmmaker m support for police and i'll go one-on-one with filmmaker m knight >> they dime frankford and cottman tonight in the mayfair section of philadelphia. they said this was not a political statement and not a comment about furgeson or new york. what this was was demonstration