A former child TV actor says he went public about being sexually abused by a dialogue coach to serve as an inspiration to his 3-year-old son.

"As he grows, my hope is that he'll be able to say, 'My dad did go through that, and the man that I know today is a hero to me,'" Drake Bell, 37, told NBC's "Today" show on Monday.

Bell, who co-starred in Nickelodeon's "Drake and Josh" from 2004 to 2007, revealed his ordeal in the five-part Investigation Discovery documentary series "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV," which premiered in March.

Bell said he was abused by Brian Peck, who worked on Nickelodeon shows in the 1990s and early 2000s before pleading no contest in 2004 to charges of oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old.

"Imagine the worst thing someone could do to someone as sexual assault," Bell said in "Quiet on the Set," according to NBC. "I don't know how else to put it."

Peck served 16 months in prison and later did voice-over work for the Disney Channel before executives learned of his conviction and fired him, according to Variety.

He didn't respond to requests for comment, NBC said.