. he has turned my life upside down. he took everything away from me, everything that i sacrificed for, everything that i worked for. he even took my daughter away from me. >> reporter: once they were so good together. >> how did love turn into hate like this? >> reporter: before that night of violence. hes you down to the basement. >> all the way down. i try to fight him off. i can't breathe. >> reporter: then a twist no one expected. they've got three witnesses who identified you in a line xrup. did you understand that? >> yes, i do understand that. >> reporter: the alleged victim accused. >> it's just a terrifying, shocking experience. >> reporter: who did what to whom? >> the evidence showed an evil

and vindictive schemer, a diabolical conniver. >> reporter: a frame jum-up that fooled nearly everyone. >> it will be hard to try to figure this out. >> you couldn't invent a worse nightmare. >> reporter: a confounding case of "vengeance". also tonight -- she's back in the spotlight, the single mom known as octomom. >> i have a system i've implemented that is unbelievable. >> she is raising 14 kids. how? >> you run a tight ship. >> absolutely. >> reporter: now she's raising a whole new controversy, doing something she swore she'd never do. >> i don't give a crap about my pride. it's not about me. it's about my children. >> tamryn hall on life with octomom. captions paid for by nbc-universal television welcome to "dateline," everyone. i'm last t lester holt. tonight i have a story for you that's like nothing you've seen before. it started out with a couple who

seemed made for each other, smart, good-looking and in love. but when things started going wrong, that passion turned into violence. then an elaborate plot to get revenge, so twisted and devious it fooled police and prosecutors, and it almost succeeded. >> reporter: there are two sides to every breakup. and if the end is bitter, an angd anger spins out of control, a once-perfect romance can become a nightmare. >> this story was a crazy case of he said/she said with a lot of twists and turns and it explodes into a story you couldn't possibly have imagined. >> reporter: simona doesn't have to imagine it. she lived it. >> how did i keep my sanity? how did it happen? this all happened to me. me!

a simple, simple person. >> reporter: for simona and jerry rammerton, it was a romance that started with so much promise. she thought he might be the one. describe him. >> charming. sweet-talker. confident. you know, he could make things happen. >> reporter: the couple lived in simona's family house in queens, noshgs, in the shadow of jfk airport. she worked as an analyst for morgan stanley. >> i got into the finance business at a great time. >> good money? >> good money. >> she also owned a golden crest restaurant franchise. she started her day working in manhattan 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. then she'd commute back to her restaurant in queens where she'd work late into the night. >> and you slept when? >> i don't know. i look back at it, and i don't know. a few hours here and there? >> reporter: not long after the golden crust opened, a handsome, confident man walked in and introduced himself.

it was jerry, and he quickly became one of simona's best customers. >> literally, i would see him almost every day. he would stop by, just casual conversation, talk about his work, him being a detective. >> reporter: the 37-year-old jerry said he had once been a police officer and still had close ties to law enforcement. now he worked in security, although his exact job was a bit of a mystery. >> he comes along and literally everybody was referring to him as my bodyguard. they loved the thought that he was around. >> were with you an investigator? >> i was a consultant. i would consult on anything involved in security or investigation matters. >> she described you as the perfect guy. >> i did whatever i could at the time, whatever i could do to help her. we did everything, went to movies, family events, everything. i kept the house clean. i took care of the garbage. i did all the repairs in the house. everyone thought we were

married. everyone. >> reporter: simona, a single mother, was raising a 12-year-old daughter. she took to jerry, too. the romance blossomed. there was even talk of marriage. but a call out of the blue changed everything. a woman on the other end introduced herself as jerry rammertan's wife. >> that was a shocker. i dutyoubted her at first. you can't be serious. >> reporter: it got worse. not only was jerry married, he also had three children. simona confronted him. >> how did you explain, i have a wife and i'm with you. >> i explained to her that before i met her i was separated from my wife. she was upset about it, but she never ended the relationship. >> reporter: but it was the beginning of the end. simona banished jerry to the basement and finally told her to leave her house by february 20, 2009. but, more than two weeks after the deadline, jerry was still there. >> he was talking about a

relationship like it still existed. i kept on saying to him, jerry, you have to leave. we're not together. >> reporter: they started arguing. but this time simona says it took a dark turn. >> he got my hands behind me. next thing i'm hearing duct tape unrolled. >> reporter: simona said jerry jammed his knee into her back, pushed her facedown onto her bed and quickly taped her wrists together. but she says jerry was strangely calm. he let her sit up in bed and acted like it was just another lazy sunday at home. he watched tv, ordered chinese food, and, incredibly, tried to win her back. >> you have are me right now duct-taped and you're having a conversation with me? have you lost your mind? i just let him have it. i called him every name i could possibly call him. >> reporter: for a moment, jerry seemed to lose it. simona said he started crying, pulled a gun out of his waistband and put the barrel against his own head.

>> i said, listen, fu want to kill yourself, don't do it in my house. don't do it in my house. and in no time he was back to normal again. >> reporter: the bizarre scene played out for hours. simona says she thought it was jerry's dramatic parking shot. but when she tried to get up from the bed, she says he snapped. >> that's when he just grabbed me with one arm and just pulled me, like, right down the stairs. >> how big a man is he? >> he's 6'4", more than 200 pounds. >> forgive me, but how big are you? >> 110 pounds, 5'1", and i was duct-taped so i couldn't control what was going on much. >> he dragged you down to the basement. >> all the way down. >> reporter: she says she was lying on the basement floor when jerry wrapped duct tape around her legs. >> he didn't utter a word. he just took all his clothes off, untied my rope, took off my underwear, and that was that. >> he rapes you.

>> yes. >> and you're powerless to resist him. >> yeah. and i'm trying to fight him off, but i can't. i can't breathe. and i'm -- i really felt like i was going to pass out. he started to cry again and apologized, that he didn't mean to do that and he hopes that, you know, i don't report it. the last thing i think i said to him was, you should have just used the gun. why didn't you? >> reporter: jerry didn't answer. he simply grabbed his things and left. simona called 911. >> what's your name, ma'am? >> simona. >> what's the emergency? >> my ex-boyfriend i need to make a report. he just left. >> reporter: jerry rammertan was arrested and charged with rape. he emphatically denied every detail of the accusation.

>> she said she had been bound, dragged down the stairs, raped. not just any rape, hours of emotional torture and forcibly penetrated. >> i never touched seemona. >> you did have sex that night. >> yes. >> in the bedroom? >> yes. >> not downstairs? >> no. >> consensual sex? wf sure. we were having sex all the time. there was never a rape. >> and with that a bitter he said/she said case was unleeved, one that would land both jerry and seemona on the wrong side of the law. coming up -- >> i was -- i was -- >> a disturbing 911 call. a string of armed robberies. an astonishing twist. >> i was asked to stepped out of the car, handcuffs was placed on me. >> reporter: was jerry's accuser the real criminal? when "vengeance" continues.

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. >> reporter: more than a year had passed since seemona sumasar had accused her ex-boyfriend jerry was out on bail. in a desperate phone call, he tried to plead his case to her one last time. >> he said, please, please, please, i'm begging you, don't do this. don't do this. don't go through with it.

think about my kids. and i said, don't ever call me again or try to contact me. >> reporter: seemona wanted to see jerry behind bars. but, on the night of may 21, 2010, her case and her life exploded into chaos. she was driving near her restaurant when she was pulled over by police. these were detectives. these weren't regular patrol officers. >> detectives, plain clothing. i explained who i was. they didn't seem to care. i was asked to step out of the car, handcuffs was placed on me. >> reporter: seemona was bewildered. she'd never been in trouble before. more puzzling, the detectives were from suburban long island. they drove seemona to a precinct house in nassau county. >> nothing is making any sense to me. these people obviously think i did something. >> reporter: the detectives acted as if seemona was hiding something and kept pressing her. her attorney nick bruston. >> her arrest is a nightmare.

she's not given any information about why she was arrested, has no idea what's happening. it's just a terrifying, shocking experience. >> reporter: seemona says she was even more shocked when she finally learned why she was there. a frantic 911 call had made her the suspect in an armed robbery. >> this is 911. what incident happened? >> i was -- >> reporter: the caller was a name louis johnson who was driving in a long island neighborhood just over the border in queens. >> ma'am, when they pulled you over, did they say that they were officers? >> yes. >> she was pulled over by this male and female police officer in a two-toned jeep cherokee with a red flashing light. >> reporter: reporter sherry einhorn covered the story. >> they had bulletproof vests with badges or shields hanging from their necks.

they have black semiautomatic handguns. >> reporter: it turns out these were not police officers, they were bandits she says who robbed her at gunpoint. the ammo struck a cord with nassau county police. it sounded almost exactly like two other armed robberies reported nearby over the previous six months. >> each of the incidents happened in the wee morning hours. each of the incident s seemed to be a routine traffic stop. and in each of the incidents, the female is often described as either spanish or indian. >> reporter: the first victim, rajeed, a burly man in his 20s describing a harrowing confrontation with the petite woman posing as a cop. >> he tells police she handcuffed him and police find him wearing handcuffs. and he also tells police that the female officer cobcked her gun near his head and a bullet popped out and police do in fact, find a bullet on the

ground. >> reporter: that case went unsofled. five months later, the same thing happened to an optician. >> they had badges. they tell me, pull over, pull over. >> did they state they were police? >> yeah, they said they were police. it was a woman and a guy. >> female white? >> no, no. she was like indian looking. >> he's able to describe a little more detail of the car that pulled him over, a jeep cherokee, gray, with partial gold rims, with a flashing red light. >> reporter: still not enough to crack the case. until the night luce johnson became victim number three. >> the police are there with you? >> reporter: johnson was inconsolable, so shaken she could barely put a sentence together. but she was clear-headed enough to remember the license plate of the jeep cherokee. police traced it to a house in queens. it was seemona sumasar's house, the very same house where police

had come one year earlier when she had said she was raped. but this time they were coming for her as the suspect in a string of brazen robberies, all police needed now was a positive i.d. >> each of the three victims is able to pick out seemona sumasar from a photo pack. >> reporter: to prosecutors in nassau county, it looked like a mountain of evidence. they charged seemona with armed robbery, possession of a firearm, and impersonating a police officer. >> when you heard "robbery" and seemona, what was your first thought? >> i thought, wow, i can't believe it. i didn't think she was like that. >> did you think, this must be some horrible missnake. >> well, i believed that there's four sides to the story. >> four sides. >> yeah. the truth, the maybe, the if and whatever else. >> reporter: and in the case of seemona and jerry, all sides were about to collide, exposing how far some people will go to

exact revenge. coming up -- seemona's rage. >> in the e-mail it says, revenge is sweet. >> there is no doubt that i had it in for him. i'm not groing to deny it. >> but does she have an alibi in the robbery case?

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. >> reporter: seemona sumasar was getting to know the justice system from both ends. first in queens as the accuser and star witness in a rape case against her former boyfriend jerry ramrattan.

and now in a long island jail cell charged with armed robbery and impersonating a police officer. the prosecutor of her rape case, frank degatano found the charges hard to believe, but he knew long island prosecutors had discovered a motive. >> she was in arrears on her taxes. they eventually came to believe that her restaurant was failing and that they was in desperate financial straits. >> i understand she had some money issues. >> a lot of money issues. there was a lot of stuff going on. >> reporter: when they first started dating, jerry was at the restaurant all the time, greeting customers, driving employees home, handling dliefrys. he was so involved some people thought he was the boss. what did you do at the restaurant initially? >> at first i came there and i started assisting her because she was having problems. she had violations, several thousands of dollars in violations. they were coming after of her for taxes. she had an asba loan, small

business loan, and she defaulted. >> reporter: jerry says seemona's financial situation got so bad, he took charge of day-to-day operations. then when seemona formed a new corporation to run the restaurant, she named jerry an officer. she enl created a new bank account to handle expenses and put it in jerry's name. and, finally, when money became too tight, he says seemona took the ultimate step. >> you say that seemona ended up selling the restaurant to you. >> correct. they gave me notarized letters saying it was sold to me. and they also transferred the light, the gas, all the utilities into my name. >> reporter: seemona says she did not sell the restaurant and it was never in dire straits. she says her problem was with jerry. once she discovered he was a married man, she just didn't trust him anymore. >> i had no clue who he really was. if anything that he said was true at all. >> reporter: and that's when seemona says she told jerry to leave.

she also wrote an e-mail to his wife. things were getting ugly. >> in the e-mail it says, revenge is sweet. he deserves what he gets. you were never going to put in this place, someone needed to. >> there was no doubt that i had it in for him. i'm not going to deny that. i explained to her that i am trying to get him out of my life. it's not an easy thing to do. >> was this related to the fact that you had set this deadline and -- >> yes. and i wanted him out. rnchs . >> reporter: it was just one month later that seemona accused jerry of rape. >> why would she make that up? >> well, her whole problem was she wanted the store back. after all the stuff i had done for her, do you know how preposterous that sounds? after all this time you're going to accuse me of rape? it was like a nightmare. >> reporter: but now the prosecutor, getting ready to bring jerry to trial for rape, had his own nightmare. his star witness had lost her most important credential --

her credibility. >> we were withrepresenting her as a thoughtful, gentle, private woman, and essentially the defense would have been able to paint her asma barker. >> reporter: and that's exactly how it played out in front of a grand jury. seemona was indicted and her bail was with set at $1 million. she couldn't come up with the money and remained in jail. they've got three witnesses who identified you in a lineup, identified your car. they had to them what seemed to be a pretty good case. du understand that. >> yes, i do understand that. >> reporter: but what seemona didn't understand is why nassau county police and prosecutors were with ignoring evidence she felt certain would clear her. >> ma'am? >> yes. >> when they pulled you over, did they say that they were officers? >> yes. >> reporter: robbery victim luce johnson's 911 call was made on the night of may 19, 2010, at 1:00 a.m. from inwood, a small town on long island. but at that very moment, seemona told police she was gambling at

the mow heeken casino in connecticut 120 miles away. >> can i prove where i was may 19th? i'm not sure, but i know that i went to mow heeken sun. i said, you can confirm with my family. my nephew was with me. >> reporter: seemona said she not only had a witness but she had concrete evidence. police were given security camera images of a woman resembling seemona at the casino's gaming tables. and records show that calls made from seemona's phone pinged off cell towers near the casino at the same time the robbery was reported in new york. but prosecutors weren't convinced. they look at the picture in the mow heeken sun -- >> it's blurry. >> right. >> i admit, but how does my phone make phone calls from connecticut at the same exact time of the robbery in new york? hours away? >> reporter: nassau county police didn't budge. they felt the evidence against

seemona was overwhelming. and, as she languished in jail for months, one thing kept eating at her. something that happened the night she was taken into custody. >> at one point during the interrogation, i noticed that there's a folder like -- manila folder this high and on top of it is this picture. >> who's picture? >> jerry's. they have a folder on him. so i thought, oh, the rape, everything i know about jerry and what's going on. and the detective casually just says to me, well, this is not about him. i'm thinking to myself, how could this not have anything to do with him? coming up -- >> it was just unbelievable. i had to pinch myself. >> a new witness comes forward and upends the entire case. >> she decided to go to the nassau d.a.'s office and come clean. also ahead -- the return of octomom. three years later, reality sets in. >> you have fallen on hard

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>> announcer: seemona sumasar was in jail about to be tried for armed robbery and impersonateing a police officer. for a woman who had been a success on wall street and owned her own restaurant, it seemed to defy all logic. is it hard to believe that that's you? >> yeah. i say it every day. it's not my life. this couldn't have happened to me. it's like a bad dream. >> reporter: seemona said she was innocent and thought she had given police an airtight alibi for the night of one of the robberies. she racked her brain trying to come up with an explanation. she could only think of one. this had to be the work of jerry ramrattan. >> there was no doubt that at

that time that this has to do with jerry. >> reporter: seemona felt certain the man charged with raping her must be connected to the charges against her now. as the months dragged on, seemona felt like she had been assaulted twice, first by her ex-boyfriend and now by the justice system. >> it became difficult, a lot of shame, a lot of guilt, like, how would i explain what's going on, what's been said about me? >> reporter: then, just before christmas, a gift. a woman arrived at the nassau county d.a.'s office with evidence of a plot against seemona. the informant said, not only was seemona not involved in any robberies, but there were no robberies. >> they they said they were police. >> reporter: the dramatic 911 calls, testimony, the evidence, all of it was faked to frame her. >> i couldn't say anything else but, wait a minute, are you kidding me? isn't this what i was saying from day one? >> reporter: the informant

provided cell phone records linking the three robbery victims to the mastermind of an elaborate plot. it was the man seemona had suspected all along, jerry ramrattan. >> he resolved to do whatever he could to discredit her. and in jerry's world that was bringing false charges against her had. and he did it in a very, very clever and really masterful way to pin these crimes on her. >> reporter: all three so-called victims confessed that the entire thing was a hoax and said jerry was behind it. they all pleaded guilty to perjury and went to jail. nassau county prosecutors had to admit they were wrong about seemona. they dropped the charges and released her. >> it was just a moment -- unbelievable. i had to pinch myself, like, i'm really literally out. >> reporter: now everything circled back to jerry ramrattan. he was arrested again and all

the charges against him were combined so he would be tried for both conspiracy and rape in front of one jury. jerry, you see why this looks really bad? you're accused of rape by seemona. seemona suddenly ends up in jail accused of armed robbery. three people that claim she did it all were related to you. >> they're not all related to me and i trust the justice system, even though i was done injustice. i guarantee you the truth will come out. >> reporter: in november 2011, the most intimate secrets and grievances of their relationship played out in court at jerry's trial for rape and conspiracy. the prosecution set the tone, calling jerry a liar and manipulator, used to getting his way until seemona forced him out of her business, her house, and her heart. >> and this time he was going to have to leave with his tail between his legs. i think he became extraordinarily angry and that's when he decided he was going to rape her.

>> reporter: seemona took the stand and described the events of march 8, 2009. hours of captivity in her own bedroom, followed by a brutal rape. that must have been hard. >> it was. i went in there not knowing what to expect. i also remind myself that i didn't have anything to worry about because i didn't need to lie about anything. >> reporter: the prosecution told the jury that seemona's body was a crime scene, semen recovered during her sexual assault exam contained jerry's dna. and there was evidence of a genital laceration. the report included pictures of seemona's face and arms. >> there are duct-tape marks consistent with duct tape having been placed around her wrists. >> reporter: prosecutor degatano also had evidence that jerry's fingerprint was on a roll of duct tape rekofred from the house. >> collectively, the evidence was overwhelming and it really supported her account. >> reporter: next, the jury heard about a fake robbery plot as intricate as an episode of

"csi or "law & order," jerry's favorite crime dramas. the prosecution said it was brilliantly conceived not by a real cop, as jerry claimed that he once was, but as a detective wannabe who had once been convicted of robbery himself. >> i knew early on he was not a police officer. he had a felony record so he could not have been a police officer. >> reporter: the prosecution called the three so-called victims who had accused seemona of armed robbery. >> they pulled me over. >> reporter: even luce johnson whose dramatic 911 call seemed so real now said she was simply reciting a script elaborately written by jerry. >> he knew police procedure. he knew how these investigations were conducted. and he made use of it, and he was very detailed in the script he gave to each the three victims. >> reporter: the prosecution had painted an ugly picture of jerry ramrattan, a rapist and schemer, without conscience.

now it was the defense's turn. jerry's lawyer, frank kelly, challenged seemona and her story of being held captivity for hours before being raped tv i thought it was ridiculous that my client would be there for hours and hours ordering chinese food and repeating the same thing over and over, can i stay, can i stay, please don't tell the police after i leave. it was just ridiculous. >> reporter: kelly ripped into the fingerprint evidence, arguing that the one print found was on a roll of duct tape, not on the pieces allegedly used to bind and gag seemona. >> there was no proof that any of those pieces of duct tape came fla particular roll. of course his fingerprint would be on the outside of one. he had placed it there on the bureau. >> reporter: kelly argued that the medical evidence was flimsy, too, including the medical technician's report of a genital laceration. >> he took a photograph of it. you couldn't see it. and he did admit that, even on consensual sex, you can get a laceration. the only thing i ever saw on a photograph was one line across

one of her forearms, but i couldn't tell you that was from duct tape. >> reporter: kelly dismissed the conspiracy charge, telling the jury that part of the case was built entirely on the testimony of confessed liars. >> these are lowlifes. they lied about everything. it just takes any one juror to say, i don't believe these people. >> reporter: in a dramatic moment, kelly presented a bill of sale in court showing seemona had sold the golden krust to jerry for $120,000. >> when i actually saw that document, i thought he really had lost his mind. >> that's your signature there and it says you sold the restaurant for $120,000. >> i have to tell you that that signature looks exactly like my signature. but i never signed that, and i never sold my business. and he doesn't have $120 much less $120,000 to give me rnchtsz jerry did not take the stand and the defense called no witnesses. >> there was nothing to gain out

of that. they didn't prove their case yard beyond a reasonable doubt. i thought the jury would come back with a not guilty verdict. >> reporter: after a three-week trial, it was over. jerry's future and seemona's, too, were now in the hands of a jury. coming up -- a tough task for jurors. >> once the case gets into the hands of the jury, you never know what's going to happen. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] nothing will keep you from magnum. ♪ ♪ silky vanilla bean ice cream and rich caramel sauce all covered in thick belgian chocolate. magnum ice cream. for pleasure seekers. [ male announcer ] every day you take those little steps of prevention. so if you suffer from heartburn 2 or more days a week why use temporary

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training and running. you'll be happier and healthier the more you know. >> reporter: for seemona sumasar, it had been an

exhausting and emotional three weeks, the trial of her ex-boyfriend jerry ramrattan had taken her back to the worst days of her life. >> i can't believe it's my life. it's something that really should be in a lifetime movie. even that's a little bit too much. >> reporter: now that the case was in the hands of the jury, seemona and prosecutor frank degatano were on edge. >> i'm never confident. once a case gets into the hands of the jury, you never know what's going to happen. >> reporter: the jurors struggled for ten long hours before reaching a verdict. >> madam foreperson, as to count one, rape in the first degree, what is your verdict? >> guilty. >> reporter: jerry ramrattan, guilty of rape. >> guilty. >> reporter: and guilty of the conspiracy that landed seemona in jail. >> as to count 11, falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, what is your verdict? >> guilty. >> reporter: the jury convicted him on 11 counts in all. >> i only heard the rape charge because, in my mind, ultimately, that's all they needed to convict him for.

>> can you step outside of this far enough to say, if i'm on the jury and if i'm hearing what this jury heard, this is a pretty easy slam-dunk conviction? >> no, it wasn't. sloppy police work, her story, they went on emotions more than actual physical evidence. >> reporter: in the end, it was still a case of he said/she said, and the jury had little trouble deciding who to believe. what do you think about jerry now? >> in many respects, i felt really sad and sorry for him because he was a flawed individual. >> he did nothing but smirk and make faces and mouth words and very exaggerated facial gestures. very smug. big turnoff. >> he is the bee that has honey in his mouth but has a stinger in his tail. >> reporter: and that sting nearly destroyed seemona sumasar's life. at the sentencing, seemona was

given a chance to address the court. but instead she spoke straight to jerry. >> you made sure that i was left with nothing when with youyou were done because you're evil. you're just -- i don't even have words for you. i don't. but i know that you're pure evil and you're a sociopath and you need help. and i hope that you take and use your time wisely to get the help you need. >> reporter: when jerry got his turn, he refused to take responsibility for his crimes. >> it's fine, whatever happens today has to happen, but it's nowhere done and over. i maintain my innocence, and there's more to come. it's not done. >> reporter: as he delivered the sentence, judge richard buckter said jerry deserved no mercy. >> the evidence showed him to be a violent rapist an evil and vindictive schemer, a sinister manipulator, a diabolical conniver, a man who

cold-heartedly endeavors to destroy an innocent victim who he himself had abused and raped. >> reporter: the judge sentenced jerry ramrattan to 33 years in prison. he will not be eligible for parole for more than 20 years. from behind bars, jerry still insists he's an innocent man and puts the blame on seemona and his three co-conspirators. we spoke to some of the jurors and they said they really believed seemona. she was lying, in your view. >> yeah. i was shocked. >> did you ask any of these three people to concoct a story of seemona robbing them? >> no. >> they're bold-faced liars? >> oh, yeah. and i'm sure in due time a lot more stuff is going to come out about all of them. >> everyone is lying. you're the only one telling the truth here. >> well, it doesn't matter what i say because i'm the fall guy right now. >> i still think that he believes in half of the lies

that he told, and he looks at me as the person that did this to him and not that he did this to himself. >> reporter: seemona sumasar was a victim of two crimes, but it didn't end there. during the seven months she was in jail, she lost her home, her business, and was separated from her daughter. and now she has to build her life yet again. the wheels of justice eventually turned in the right direction, but it must be hard to look at yourself as a winner. >> it is. it is. he has turned my life upside down. he has took everything away from me, everything that i sacrificed for, everything that i worked for. he even took my daughter away from me. turned her life upside down. >> reporter: seemona has filed a lawsuit against the new york city police department and nassau county police and

prosecutors, accusing them of failing to properly investigate the false charges against her, an accusation that both new york city and nassau county say is without merit. but seemona's attorney believes they must be held to account. >> it's literally -- she couldn't imagined this having happened to her. so in terms of how this affected her life, i mean, you couldn't invent a worse nightmare for her. >> sometimes the word "victim" implies someone weak. >> uh-huh. >> how do you wrestle with the term "victim"? how do you see yourself? >> i don't want to play the victim role. i'm stronger than that. i'm better than that. you just have to let it go and say what's done is done and just leave it alone. coming up next -- she's raising 14 children on her own. >> from the way you describe it, everyone would describe, wow, this is a perfect family. >> if they knew us. >> reporter: what you haven't heard from the single mom called octomom.

and coming up sunday on "dateline." >> i don't know how else to explain it. i did not do this. >> the allegations were shocking. children whisked away from school for strange and secret games. >> since the school was closed when we got there, we just went to nancy's house again. i said, what? >> reporter: their bus driver accused of unspeakable crimes. but was she the villain or a victim? >> it wasn't that i had a hunch they were innocent. need any help? uh, nope. just uh, checking out my ad. nice. but, you know, with every door direct mail from the postal service, you'll find the customers that matter most: the ones in your neighborhood. print it yourself, or we'll help you find a local partner.

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i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself and so, college was a dream, when i was a kid. i didn't know how i was going to do it but i knew i was going to get that opportunity one day. and that's what happened with the university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky is the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix.

she may be the world's best-known single mom and the busiest. nadya suleman caused a sensation three years ago when the mother fertility treatments and gave have ivf after having six children already? >> yes. >> you say that easily. >> absolutely. because in my lucid state of mind, i don't know at that point. i could rationalize myself away. i'm good at rationalizing.

>> you may not even recognize her, nadya suleman, octomom. when she gave us her first-ever television interview in 2009, she looked relaxed, almost glamorous, despite the fact she had just given birth to octuplets and phased withering criticism as a single mother who had 14 children but no job, no husband, no money. >> i personally do not believe i'm irresponsible. everything i do revolves around my children. >> reporter: today, three years later, it's clear nadya's life still resolves around her children. but a lot of other things have changed. you describe kids jumenning and having fun. >> we all do. we are. i'm a kid, too. >> reporter: and you're -- from the way you describe, everyone would say, wow, this is a perfect family. >> if they knew us. but no one knows us. >> reporter: the kids range in age from 3 to 11. she says the octuplets are all healthy. nadya herself is 36 and says her days, while exhausting, are

orderly. >> i have a system that i've implemented that is unbelievable. the eldest children, i help them get ready for school. the 3-year-olds are so self-reliant. i tell them one thing, march upstairs, and they go in a line. >> so you run a tight ship. >> absolutely. military school. but it's also mixed with unconditional love and acceptance. >> reporter: but she's acutely aware not many people believe her had. >> they just want to believe the lies and the sensationalism and all of the rumor that's were fed to them by the media. because it sells. >> but one of the things that's not a lie is that you have fallen on hard times with the kids. >> oh, absolutely. >> what is the situation? >> we really kind of hit rock bottom financially. >> reporter: in fact, nadya is close to losing everything. in 2009, her father helped her buy a four-bedroom house, but she hasn't been able to keep up with the mortgage. the house is now in foreclose urz, and, with 14 mouths to

feed, she's been forced to do something she swore as recently as last year she'd never do. >> some people have said that you have been worried that you might be on public assistance. >> i've never in my life been on and i never will. i would feel like a failure not only as a mother but as a human being. >> did you give honest thought to the financial situation? >> i was in denial. >> you were in denial. >> absolutely at that time. not now. i think i'm more of a realist than i ever thought i would become. >> reporter: and so, a couple of months ago, nadya the realist decided she had no choice but to seek government assistance. >> and i called three days after they turned 3 and i was crying. >> why? >> ashamed that i wasn't able to completely make it 100%, continue making it 100%, without any assistance. >> reporter: she now receives $2,000 a month in food aid from the state of california. >> pride is gone. i don't give a crap about my pride. it's not about me. it's about my children.

>> reporter: but she still has all those other bills to pay, and although her had mom and dad help care for the children, there's no way she could hold a regular job. so she's found other ways to make money. >> i've used stream channel, octomom tv, on sunday nights at 8:00. >> hi, how are you all? thank you so much. >> reporter: it's her own live web cast. she gets a cut off the ad revenue. she also makes a few dollars to another web site, talking to fans on the telephone. so you're pulling things where you can. >> every i can. i'm accepting every job that's respectable and i'm accepting it as long as it's going to pay the bills and take care of my family. >> reporter: but she's gone even further, posing topless for the british magazine "closer." you sound still concerned that people believe you're willing to do anything for money. >> not anything. not anything. i will draw the line. >> what is the line? >> i would never touch another person, you know, in a sexual way. >> reporter: in other words, she

says she won't do pornography, no matter how bad her money troubles become. are you at all fearful that things could get so bad that you would lose your children? >> never. that's one thing i'm not afraid of. >> why? >> because that will never happen. i will die before i lose my children. >> you're strieing to be the rock you told me? >> the rock for my kids. if i'm not a rock for my children, you know, who will be? i have to be strong for them. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline" friday. we'll see you again for "dateline" sunday at 7:00/6:00 central and i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." i'm lester roelt. for all of us at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com