One in four girls, and one in six boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. Less than one in ten victims will tell. One courageous survivor, is now spending her life helping kids who are scared and confused just like she was so many years ago.

"The first time, I was 4," said Debbe Andrews, child abuse survivor, and advocate at the Child Advocacy Center.

So precious, naive and innocent.

"It didn't hurt too bad, and he was my new daddy," said Debbe.

Within seconds, then minutes, days, months and years, Debbe's life was changed forever, when she became a victim of child sexual abuse.

"Day after day, I hoped he would stop. I hid in the closet. He found me," said Debbe.

For Debbe, it started shortly after her step-father entered her life.

"I didn't talk about it a whole lot. Everybody in my family knew what was going on. My brothers and sisters, different ones, had seen bad things. We just didn't talk about it," said Debbe.

Instead, Debbe lived off hate for a long time, hating her step-father and even her mother.

"It went on for 12 years. It was molesting, and those kinds of things from the time I was four, until i was about 12. Then, at 12, it turned into rape, and it was rapes from 12 to 16," said Debbe.

"I remember Saturday nights and Tuesday nights being bad nights for me, but I couldn't give you a number on it. I think it was sometime after I was 12, when the emergency room thing happened, and my mom actually caught him that morning in my bed, and we went to the emergency room. The doctors were there. The police were there. He did 2 days in jail, and some probation, and that was it," said Debbe.

An estimated $39 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse exist in America today.

Debbe is one of those strong survivors.

It was not until recently, she opened up, sharing her story with the world, through a simple, yet very powerful published short story.

"I prayed he would stop, and it happened more," said Debbe.

Feelings and emotions she thought she would never share.

"Having gone through what I went through, I think it kind of gives me something else as far as dealing with kids and their parents," said Debbe.

For the past 10 years, Debbe has devoted her time, helping our innocent, through being a volunteer and child advocate, at the Child Advocacy Center.

"I kind of distanced myself. I would do whatever they asked me to do, but I really wasn't sure I could handle actually working with families. When I became an advocate, one of my first cases was a step-daughter, and the perpetrator was her step-dad and mom wouldn't believe. I thought, there is no way this child is going through this by herself," said Debbe.

In 2008, the center saw 669 children.

Thus far in 2009, more than 120 children have walked through the center's doors.

"I read a report not too long ago that said 70% of kids never tell, or don't tell until they're adults. So, if we saw 669 kids, that means there are nearly 1,200 or 1,300 that didn't tell us last year. That number is just amazing to me," said Debbe.

That's why Debbe, and other community leaders, encourage parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of abuse, as well as provide them with an open form of communication.

Once you have established that, Debbe says stay alert, and listen to your children.

"A lot of times, kids do have signs and symptoms that something is going on, but they can also be signs and symptoms of something else. Sometimes parents will say they kind of felt like something was going on, but they wasn't sure, so they just kind of ignored it. If you kind of have that creepy feeling, I'd say go with it, and find out what is going on," said Debbe.

If your child is one of 30% of children that do open up and tell, believe, love and support them.

"Kids rarely lie about saying it happened when it didn't. It's less than 2%. Kids who are believed, who have strong family support, preferably mom, but any strong family support, and get into counseling, do very well. The kids who don't have one or both of those pieces, can continue to struggle," said Debbe.

Just like Debbe did, for so many years.

"So, here I was, 12-years-old, being molested and raped, and left to die in my sorrow, and mommy wouldn't help," said Debbe.

For more information on the 10 tips for prevention, and links to many of the Nebraska organizations helping in the fight against child abuse, click on the web addresses below.