NEWTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A New Jersey man was sentenced Thursday after confessing to the 2012 murder of his alleged sex abuser.

Clark Fredericks, 50, was given the minimum sentence of five years for stabbing Dennis Pegg to death in June 2012. Fredricks said he endured years of sexual abuse from Pegg, starting when he was only eight years old.

"Dennis Pegg not only stole my childhood, but he affected how I lived my whole life," Fredericks said.

Pegg, a former Boy Scout leader and corrections officer, was a close friend of Fredericks' family.

"Besides the tactics that Pegg used to instill fear in me, one reason why I didn't speak up is that I thought Pegg was untouchable because he wore a badge," Fredericks said.

Numerous complaints were made over the years about Officer Pegg being an abuser pedophile, but they never resulted in any prosecution because many alleged victims recanted, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported.

"I saw Pegg in the company of a young boy months before the attack, and it tore something up in me," Fredericks said.

Judge Thomas Critchley went with the lighter sentence possible because he believed Fredericks "did this because of what was done to him and not as an adult, but as a child," Critchley said.

Fredericks' relatives and friends filled the gallery, but it appeared no one from Pegg's family showed.

"Dennis is not here to defend himself. We will never know the absolute truth," Pegg's family said in a statement.

The prosecution argued for more than the minimum sentence.

"Vigilantism, whether it's a lynch mob, whether it's an individual carrying out what they believe to be their form of justice, is never good," said Gregory Mueller, Sussex County Assistant Prosecutor.

But Critchley said he was sorry to even give Fredericks' the prison time he did, praising Fredericks for having no prior criminal record, for expressing remorse and for speaking out against people similarly taking the law in to their own hands.

During the sentencing, Fredericks apologized to his family, the court and the community.

"I hope you will learn from my experience instead of following my example," Fredericks said.

Fredericks' sentence includes time served, and he's already been behind bars for three and a half years. Prosecutors say the earliest he could be released is late next year.