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Former ESPN Anchor: 'I Was Molested As A Child'

(WSCR) In the wake of 12 Pennsylvanian jurors finding former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky guilt of 45 counts of child sex-abuse, one media member is speaking out about the abuse inflicted upon her as a child.

The following comes from a blog written by former ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson.

The Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse trial is over.  The long road to recovery for his victims, is just beginning.

I should know, as it's a path I'm currently traveling.

Like the young men who bravely took the stand in the Sandusky trial, I was molested as a child.  That's still not easy for me to say, let alone write and share publicly, but if we've learned anything from the Sandusky scandal it's that the time for silence is over.  As I heard one Sandusky victim put it, it's time to "find my voice."

It was something I couldn't do when I was molested.  I didn't speak out, no matter how many chances I may have had.  I just couldn't.  Travis Weaver, one of the young men who testified in front of the grand jury in the Sandusky case but not at trial did an interview which aired on Rock Center last week.  He said he was scared to say anything because he thought no one would believe him.  I know that feeling.

That's what these monsters count on, our silence.  They have the power and they know it.  

In my case, my monster was a babysitter, a neighborhood teen that my parents and others trusted.  I had been told to obey him, like any other babysitter or authority figure.  Forget the shame, fear, and overwhelming confusion that went along with the sexual abuse, we both knew that he was the one in charge.  Is it any wonder my silence came so easily?

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