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FAYETTEVILLE-- The Child Advocacy Center in Fayetteville is offering free classes to help combat the sexual abuse of children.

Officials estimate as many as 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused by they time they are 18. Counselors say the that first step in stopping the abuse is getting the community involved. Officials say from late 2008 trough 2009, more than 120,000 children in North Carolina were reported as abused or neglected.

"It is probably more than we can count because they don't report it," said Darlene Fairley, instructor for the Child Abuse Prevention program.

To combat the problem, the Advocacy Center offers nationally recognized prevention programs to the community. Many of the students in Saturday's class are volunteers with the local rape crisis center.

"We do, actually, have some children that are victims that we have to encounter, so it is good to have this training to know how to handle it," said Ze Surratt II with the Rape Crisis Volunteers of Cumberland County.

In the class, they learn about the seven steps to help prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. As members of the community, they are on the front lines in fighting the abuse.

"We really do need to get this information out to the community because we they need more awareness and I think, through awareness, we will be able to fight it better," said Surratt.

The Child Advocacy Center will be hosting a second workshop open to everyone on Jan. 22 for learning how to recognize and report child abuse.