>> CATHY: LONGTIME "PIONEER PRESS" COLUMNIST AND REPORTER RUBEN ROSARIO DIED EARLIER THIS WEEK AFTER LIVING WITH AND BATTLING CANCER FOR MORE THAN A DECADE.

ROSARIO RETIRED IN THE SPRING OF 2020 AFTER NEARLY 30 YEARS AT THE ST. PAUL PAPER AS A CRIME REPORTER, CITY EDITOR, AND LONGTIME FEATURED COLUMNIST.

IN THAT COLUMN, ROSARIO OFTEN WROTE ABOUT THE LIVES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE AND ISSUES HE THOUGHT DESERVED MORE ATTENTION.

BACK IN 2013 HE WROTE A VERY PERSONAL COLUMN, REVEALING THAT HE WAS A CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVOR.

HERE'S A PORTION OF OUR CONVERSATION WITH HIM ABOUT GOING PUBLIC WITH HIS CHILDHOOD TRAUMA.

HERE'S MY INTRODUCTION.

>> Cathy: TENS OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ABUSED AS CHILDREN.

AND MANY OF THOSE MILLIONS NEVER TELL ANYBODY.

St. PAUL "PIONEER PRESS" COLUMNIST RUBEN ROSARIO BUCKED THAT TREND THIS MONTH.

HE PENNED A COLUMN ON SUNDAY IN WHICH HE TALKED ABOUT BEING ABUSED BY A TABLE COUSIN.

ROW SORE I DON'T WAS JUST 7 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME.

HE HOPES THAT GOING PUBLIC WITH HIS STORY, HE HOPES OTHERS WILL DO THE SAME.

THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS.

IT'S BRAVE.

YOUR FAMILY HAS KNOWN ABOUT THIS FOR QUITE SOME TIME.

BUT WHAT PUSHED YOU TO BECOME PUBLIC WITH THIS?

>> I THINK THE TIME, IT WAS JUST TIME.

FOR ABOUT 30 YEARS NOW, I'VE BEEN WRITING STORIES, DOING COLUMNS ON OTHER VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE AND ALWAYS WHEN I DID THOSE COLUMNS, I ALMOST ANSWERED THE QUESTION BEFORE THEY DID.

BECAUSE I HAVE GONE THROUGH IT.

AND WHEN YOU'RE A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE WITHIN A FAMILY STRUCTURE, THINGS GET A LITTLE MESSY AND MORE COMPLEX.

THE CHILD OR THE VICTIM IS VERY HESITANT, SOMETIMES, TO EVEN COME FORWARD.

BECAUSE OF DYNAMICS.

YOU KNOW, IF I COME FORWARD, IT'S GOING TO BREAK UP THE FAMILY, IT'S GOING TO SEVER TIES.

AND, SO, YOU HOLD BACK, YOU HOLD BACK.

AND IT WASN'T UNTIL MY AUNT, WHO WAS MY ABUSER'S MOTHER, DIED TWO YEARS AGO AND IT WASN'T UNTIL THAT SAME YEAR WHEN I BROKE THE NEWS FOR MY MOTHER FOR THE FIRST TIME, AFTER 51 YEARS.

THE SAME TIME I ALSO BROKE THE NEWS I HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER.

AND, SO, THE CANCER DID A LITTLE PRODDING, A LITTLE MORTALITY CHECK THERE.

AND ALSO LAST WEEK I MET ART CHESLEY, THE FORMER NFL FOOTBALL PLAYER FOR THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES, CHICAGO BEARS, WHO ALSO CAME OUT A COUPLE YEARS AGO AND CONFESSED THAT HE HAD BEEN A VICTIM OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE.

I SAW THIS BEAR OF A MAN, AND I SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, IT'S TIME, IT'S JUST TIME TO COME OUT.

>> Eric: WHAT PRICE DID YOU PAY FROM HAVING BEEN ABUSED?

>> YOU KNOW, YOU DISSOCIATE YOURSELF BECAUSE IT HAPPENED SO YOUNG.

I WAS 7 YEARS OLD.

SO I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO ME.

I JUST NO IT WAS PAINFUL, IT WAS ICKY.

>> Eric: TELL US ABOUT THE RESPONSE YOU'VE RECEIVED.

>> IT'S BEEN HUMBLING.

ERIC, I'VE GOTTEN OVER 200 EMAILS, NUMEROUS PHONE CALLS.

VICTIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE, BOTH GENDERS, SURPRISINGLY, A LOT OF MALES REACHED OUT TO ME.

SOME HAVE NEVER TOLD ANYBODY.

AND THEY SENT ME AN EMAIL CONFESSING WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM AND THAT THEY ARE GETTING CLOSER TO TELL THEIR FAMILIES.

OTHERS HAVE THERAPISTS, RECEIVED EMAILS FROM THERAPISTS WHO SAY THAT THEY'RE GOING TO USE THE COLUMN SORT OF LIKE TO SHARE WITH OTHER VICTIMS OF ADULTS, ADULTS WHO WERE ICTIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN TERMS OF HOW TO DEAL WITH IT.

MY HOPE IS THAT THE COLUMN HELPS THAT 7-YEAR-OLD CHILD RIGHT NOW THAT'S GETTING ABUSED, WHETHER IT'S BY A FAMILY MEMBER OR BY A STRANGER, OR AN ADULT WHO KNOWS OF A CHILD BEING ABUSED, HOPEFULLY IT MIGHT SPUR SOMEBODY TO COME FORWARD BECAUSE MY LAMENT IS THAT I WAITED 352 YEARS -- 52 YEARS, YOU KNOW, A LONG TIME, MORE THAN A HALF A CENTURY.

AND I THINK IT'S TIME WITH MORE AWARENESS, ESPECIALLY