An abuse survivor slept with a kitchen knife under his pillow on the eve of his 11th birthday to stop sex attacks from his paedophile father.
Johnandrew Ballantyne’s desperate move came following four years of terror at the hands of John Ballantyne between 1987 and 1991.
The 60-year-old was sent to jail last month for a catalogue of abuse on his son and many others in Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire from 1977 to 2018.
There were male and female victims ranging in age from five years old to adults.
As well as being abused, Johnandrew, 41, witnessed his father committing atrocious acts, including raping a woman.
He told our sister paper the Sunday Mail how he found the courage to come forward and speak to the police.
He said: “I hadn’t seen my dad for years, but was aware he wasn’t yet an old man and I was certain he would still have access to
children.
“I’d seen him attacking others and thought I had a duty to try to stop him creating other victims, so I went to the police.”
Johnandrew didn’t use the knife under the pillow on his father, but added: “The only time I ever had enough time to get the knife out was when someone else was larking about and gave me a fright.
“I could have hurt them with it, but luckily I realised it was them before it was too late.”
He revealed that Ballantyne tried to pretend he was ill to evade justice.
Johnandrew, 41, from Lanarkshire, said: “When police went to arrest him, he played the sick card and pretended he couldn’t get out of bed.
“A couple of weeks later he flew to Mexico for a holiday at a five-star resort. Then, when he had to appear in court, he was in a wheelchair.
“He got away with it for more than four decades, so the jail time doesn’t really reflect that – but at least he can’t abuse anyone while he’s locked up and maybe he won’t walk out of prison.”
Ballantyne will now spend 12 years behind bars with a further four years on licence. He will also be subject to sex offender registration requirements.
Johnandrew said it was only through the support of his wife Samantha and becoming a dad to their two children that he was able to pull through from the childhood trauma and several suicide attempts.
He also received help through the Moira Anderson Foundation (MAF), which was set up in the name of the missing Coatbridge
schoolgirl believed to have been murdered by a paedophile in 1957 but whose body has never been found.
He said: “I wasn’t sure what was available for men who had been sexually abused as children.
“My perception was that most victims were female, so services would be geared for them.
“But I heard about the Moira Anderson Foundation, got in touch and it has been a massive help to me and my family in dealing with my abuse.”
He still suffers as a result of his physical injuries but has waived his right to anonymity to talk about the mental scars that almost killed him in his youth.
He also feels it’s important to let men who were sexually abused as children know they are not alone and that there is help available.
Johnandrew added: “The first person I ever told about what had happened to me was my wife and I got total support.
“She had her suspicions because of my nightmares – I’d wake her up shouting in the night. Eventually the time came to tell her the whole truth.”
Sandra Brown, founder of the MAF, said: “Male survivors were normally counted in single figures every year.
“But since 2021, they have made up between 20 and 25% of new referrals. It takes courage to ask for help and this is a positive development.”
After the case, Detective Sergeant David Brown, from Larbert Police Station, said: “Ballantyne’s offending has had a significant and lasting impact on the lives of his victims.
“The sentencing ensures he faces the consequences of his actions.”
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