A brave young mum who was abused by her stepdad has launched a charity to help other sex abuse survivors overcome their trauma.
Stacey Wheeldon has poured thousands of pounds of her own money into launching Childhood Abuse Support Team and getting a safe space for victims to go.
And she said she will also put her whole criminal compensation payment into the charity when it is paid out and hopes to fund the charity with donations going forward.
Stacey, 28, waived her right to anonymity to reveal what serial sex beast David Paterson put her through - and support other people struggling with their past.
Paterson, 54, was jailed last year over a 35-year reign of terror, which saw him abusing a girl, a boy, Stacey, and three women, between 1983 and 2018.
The selfish sicko denied all wrongdoing, forcing his victims to give evidence against him in two different Ayr Sheriff Court trials.
But he was convicted in both cases - and was slammed for protesting his innocence, before being placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.
Now Stacey has launched charity Childhood Abuse Support Team - CAST - and is dedicating her life to helping others.
Stacey has obtained an office in Ayr she will use as a drop in centre.
But she is willing to travel to meet others to try and battle their demons and says anyone in Scotland is welcome to email her for support.
She said: "I want people to know that there's a real back story to this, it's not just a pop-up service with therapists involved.
"A lot of what I found after the court case was that, when you go through the court system, you are supported.
"You get access to Victim Support through the court system, but there's nowhere really afterwards.
"If you go to your doctors or other places, they want to know what you want them to do, but they can't really do anything.
"I want to be there to be a friendly face for people to chat to and open up to, to be there for people if they want to report it to the police.
"I've been through the historical side of it. It happened to me and I never said anything at the time and then reported it to the police when I was an adult.
"I went through it all and reported it and got a conviction and I want people to know that it can happen."
Stacey is in the process of getting her enterprise registered as a charity and hopes her horrible experiences can help others.
She said: "I hated it when people spoke to me and sounded like they were reading pages from textbooks.
"I want people to know this is from genuine experience, I want them to feel like I am someone on the outside that they can open up to with no judgments.
"This space is somewhere they can come to relax, they're not going to get scolded or shut down because it happened a long time ago.
"I am there to sit and listen and to believe, most importantly, because that is the first step.
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"I'm trying to break stigmatism over this, It affects you for your whole life, even when you become a parent.
"It makes you more apprehensive and you don't let your kids go on sleepovers and stuff because you're worried about who they're around.
"I want this to be a rant space, a vent space, they can come here and talk and let it out.
"Every day could be a trigger for someone. Just because my yesterday was bad doesn't mean I can't help people's tomorrows get better.
"This is a non-profit organisation, I don't want people to pay me for me helping them talk through what happened in their horrendous childhood.
"I'd rather do something that I love, and help people, than be stuck in a dead end job, hating my life.
"It's good that something so positive can come out of something so sinister."
When sentencing Paterson, who abused his victims at different addresses in Ayrshire, Sheriff John Montgomery said:
"The behaviour you indulged in was depraved.
"If that wasn't bad enough, by your insistence of innocence, you caused the victims to relive very traumatic experiences."
CAST can be contacted on Facebook or at c.a.s.t-ayr@outlook.com.
