Dana Jacobson reveals she was molested by a childhood babysitter

Dana Jacobson

As Jerry Sandusky faces life behind bars as a convicted child molester, former ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson is opening up about her own experience being sexually abused as a child.

Jacobson's bombshell confession comes just days after the former Penn State football coach was convicted of 45 out of 48 counts of child sex abuse.

"Like the young men who bravely took the stand in the Sandusky trial, I was molested as a child," Jacobson wrote Monday on her blog. "That's still not easy for me to say, let alone write and share publicly, but if we've all 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.'"

Jacobson, 40, was an anchor for ESPN from 2002 until her contract expired in April.

Monday's blog post was the first time the ex-sports host, who hails from Michigan, had spoken publicly about being abused.

Jacobson says she was molested twice by a babysitter, who she described as "a neighborhood teen that my parents and others trusted."

"I remember faking a stomach ache to try to keep my parents from going out when I knew my abuser was coming to babysit, but my silent cry was the same tactic I used when another sitter was scheduled and I just wanted my parents to stay," she wrote. "How would they know the difference? I truly believe no one could have stopped the abuse unless I had told someone."

Jacobson added that she relates to Sandusky's victims who felt like they couldn't speak up.

"[Travis Weaver] said he was scared to say anything because he thought no one would believe him," she wrote. "I know that feeling. That's what these monsters count on, our silence. They have the power and they know it."

Monday night, Jacobson addressed her revelation on Twitter and thanked fans for comments and support.

"This can happen to anyone but it doesn't define you as a person," she wrote.