The 41-year-old television star had kept it a secret until Richard Hayes Stone was arrested years after for molesting a girl who ultimately committed suicide.

Hatcher told Vanity Fair magazine yesterday that upon hearing the story of the 14-year-old girl who shot herself after being molested by Stone, she went to Santa Clara county prosecutors in 2002 and told them about her abuse 35 years ago.

Santa Clara county Deputy District Attorney Chuck Gillingham credits Hatcher for putting Stone behind bars.

"Without Teri, this case would have been dismissed," he told the magazine, explaining that Hatcher's account provided key corroborating evidence to establish a pattern of behavior.

Stone, who was married to Hatcher's mother's sister when she was a little girl, pleaded guilty to four counts of child molestation in December 2002 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison after Hatcher agreed to testify against him.

Hatcher said she hesitated because she thought tabloids would suggest she was trying to resuscitate her then-languishing career:"Here's what I anticipated. He did this, he gets off, and Teri ends up on the cover a tabloid."

Her career was revived with the hit"Desperate Housewives," for which she's twice been nominated for a Golden Globe, winning last year. Enditem

(Agencies)