D.C. sniper Malvo: I was sexually abused by my accomplice

By Ian Sager, TODAY In an exclusive television interview with TODAY's Matt Lauer, D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo claims that he was sexually abused by John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind behind the sniper attacks that terrorized the nation's capital in 2002. Susan Walsh / AP file Malvo (pictured above) tells Matt Lauer there are more victims than the ones he and sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad had previously admitted to. "For the entire period when I was almost 15 until I got arrested, I was sexually abused by John Muhammad," Malvo said. "I felt a sense of shame, and I just said, 'That's just something that I'd never tell anyone.' And to a certain extent, up until that point, I really couldn't handle it." It has been ten years since Malvo and Muhammad went on a rampage that killed 10 and wounded three. Muhammad was executed by lethal injection in 2009. Malvo, who is serving a life sentence at a southwest Virginia prison, said it took years for him to come to terms with the abuse. "The main reason I'm coming forward now is because I am more mature. As far as the guilt that I carried around for several years, I dealt with that to a large extent for years. And now, I can handle this. In here, there's no therapy. Rehabilitation is just a word. In solitary confinement, in a cell by yourself, I am priest, doctor, therapist. So, it just worked out that I just took it off piece by piece. That I could handle it." Malvo also told Lauer that there are victims of his shooting spree that have not been identified – and that he has contacted the families of some of those victims. "Without anyone contacting me two and a half years ago, I reached out and I did that. In five different instances in different states. But there was a point in time where psychologically, I couldn't handle it…I cannot afford to break down psychologically in here, because there will be no help," Malvo explained. See more from the interview Thursday, October 25 on TODAY. More: Biden: I'm 'surprised' Romney agreed with us on foreign policy Felix Baumgartner: I didn't enjoy space jump High school kicker with autism makes game-winning field goal