WARNING: The below clip highlights disturbing accounts of violence and sexual abuse.
A John Wayne Gacy survivor is speaking out for the first time.
In an exclusive sneak peek from A&E's Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America three-night event, which premieres Sunday, Aug. 15, a man named David Bolton alleges being molested by one of history's most notorious serial killers. Per Bolton, he became acquainted with Gacy when he was either nine or 10.
"In 1956, my mother and I went up to a resort in Elkhorn, Wisconsin," he recalls. "A fellow named John, he was about 16. He worked there. He did odd jobs."
As Bolton details, he didn't have any friends at the resort, prompting Gacy to befriend the young boy. "He had some time off," he remembers, "and he wanted to know if I wanted to go in a boat with him."
Having never been in a row boat before, Bolton says that he agreed to the outing with Gacy. While the excursion started off fun, it soon took a dark turn.
"We tied up the boat," he continues. "He took me in the thicket and, um, he did a terrible thing. He did a terrible thing."
According to Bolton, the once friendly Gacy turned menacing as he grabbed the boy by the shoulders and threatened to kill him. "I turned around and he said, 'Open your mouth,'" a somber Bolton shares. "I open my mouth and, um, that's what happened. Thank god it was over quickly."
Decades after this upsetting encounter, Bolton finds himself wondering, "Is a person born evil? Did they become evil? I don't have an answer."
On why he's chosen to speak out now, the survivor notes that the abuse was hard to think back on and affected the way he viewed himself. Ultimately, Bolton was just one of many terrorized by Gacy, who went on to be convicted for the murder of 33 young men and boys.
You can hear more about Gacy, as well as Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Gary Ridgway and Dennis Rader, in A&E's limited series event.
The Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America three-night event begins Sunday, August 15 at 9 p.m. on A&E Network.