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Ex-ESPN Anchor Dana Jacobson Reveals She Was Molested As A Child

by Matt Rudnitsky | 1:58 pm, June 26th, 2012

Ex-ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson, inspired by the courage of the victims who testified in the Jerry Sandusky trial, came forward with her own story of sexual abuse on her blog.

“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.’”

She goes on to detail her own story, which she says helps her feel better each time she tells it. It took her until her early 20s to even acknowledge that she had been molested.

In the post, she offers her thoughts on the trial. Among them: she doesn’t “understand so many people putting their fear and discomfort ahead of the safety and innocence of children.”

Make sure you read the post. It’s powerful, courageous and inspirational, whether you are a victim of sexual abuse or not. Kudos, Dana, and all the best.

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SteveMG

She didn’t “acknowledge” this awful incident; she revealed it.

To “acknowledge” means to admit to something. To reveal is to make known.

She’s making known that she was abused. She’s not acknowledging it.
Evan Sporer

This was a very valid point and we changed the headline—thank you.
SteveMG

My favorite “Twilight Zone” episode was one called “Walking Distance.” It was about a frustrated businessman trying to escape all his problems and worries.

His car breaks down near his old hometown and, while it’s getting fixed, he walks into the town to look around. And he finds himself somehow transported to his childhood again. He literally finds himself as a 10 year old boy playing.

So he tries to tell his younger self to enjoy his childhood. To savor that time – that one summer – and to squeeze everything out of it. His father sees him and, after some time of disbelief, sees that somehow his son has come back into time. But he tells his grown up son to go back, that he can’t do this, that he is “taking away his one summer” and that he can’t look back.

“One summer.” Child abusers’ true evil is to take away that one summer from children. Of innocence. Or purity. Of joy. Of fun.

It is worse than murder, isn’t it? Damned them….