Sen. Scott Brown: Sexual Abuse Victims Should 'Tell Somebody'

In this Jan. 11 photo, Sen. Scott Brown answers a question during an interview at his office in Boston. (AP)

Sen. Scott Brown, after revealing that he was sexually abused by a camp counselor, has advice for other abuse victims -- speak up.

The Massachusetts senator, who had not previously told his mother or his wife about the details of his own childhood trauma, said in an interview aired on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday that his recommendation to anybody else trapped in that situation is to not keep quiet.

"You've got to tell somebody. You've got to get out of it," Brown said.

Though Brown is only now going public, he said he was able to get through it because he had the "will to survive" and recognized what was happening as wrong.

"I knew that it was going to get probably pretty consistent and serious, but the difference, I think, between me and maybe others is I fought back," Brown said. "Knowing what my mom had gone through, in terms of the abuse, I knew what abuse was. It was just a different style of abuse."

Brown, a Republican who rose to political stardom when he won the seat held by the late Ted Kennedy a year ago, is expected to discuss the childhood abuse in his book, "Against All Odds."

Though he also suffered physical abuse at the hands of his stepfathers, Brown revealed he was sexually abused, multiple times, by a camp counselor who threatened to "kill" him if he talked about it.

Brown reportedly does not plan to seek charges against the former counselor.

In the interview, Brown also said that while he had a rough childhood, he does not consider those old memories when casting votes on government assistance programs.

The Republican acknowledged that he and his mother benefited from welfare. But as a U.S. senator, he said, he has voted against certain government assistance programs because he has to consider economic issues. He said he believes it is critical to find a way to use the money available rather than run up the nation's deficit.

During the interview, he said basketball saved him from being a juvenile delinquent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.