A teenage victim of monster funeral celebrant John Beaumont has told of the physical and mental scars his abuser left on him.
Beaumont, 65, was last week sentenced to four years and eight months after being convicted of indecent assault on fellow St Andrews students in the late 80s.
He carried out sex attacks – manipulating university colleagues to undress in front of him before inserting a needle into their genital area – on two males and one female during fake radiation examinations following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The former trainee church minister was already serving 13 and a half years in jail after admitting similar offences in 2017.
Beaumont was described as a “predator” and a “serial sex offender”.
For the first time, we can tell the story of Alex, who asked us to change his name to protect his identity.
His evidence put Beaumont behind bars seven years ago after he was duped and assaulted by him as a 15-year-old.
Alex’s testimony also prompted more victims to come forward in the intervening years.
He told us: “John Beaumont shouldn’t have been in the position to offend in the first place.”
Years of reoffending
John Beaumont, raised in Falkirk’s Sheildhall area, committed his first crimes aged 21.
He posed as a medical practitioner at Grangemouth Sawmill and later at Bo’ness Academy, indecently assaulting workers, pupils and members of the public at both locations.
18 months’ probation followed after he was convicted of 32 offences in 1978.
Seven years later, Beaumont – then working as an English tutor in his hometown – was found guilty of indecently assaulting six boys and given three years’ probation and psychiatric treatment.
He duped the teenagers into believing he was also a “government medical inspector” who could carry out tests to reveal who would survive a nuclear attack or become sterile.
During his weekly lessons, some of which took place in the boys’ homes, Beaumont used a syringe to inject their private parts before ordering them not to tell anyone about the sinister examinations.
Before the case concluded, his defence agent told the judge that, while his client’s behaviour was unacceptable, he had “been offered a place at university and has a lot to offer the community”.
That university was St Andrews, where Beaumont would study divinity, get a job as a warden at the halls and use the position to help him exploit and assault younger students.
Meeting John Beaumont
Alex still remembers meeting the man who would become a family friend in the summer of 1987, a year after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.
The man in his 50s – who contacted The Courier after reading our report on Beaumont in December – said: “My first impression was he was as square as they come.
“I’m no fashion critic but he would wear a blazer constantly in a very old-fashioned way.
“He dressed for every occasion wearing ties, a shirt and maybe a tank top underneath.
“He was almost from another age.”
According to Alex, Beaumont hoped to become a minister after graduation, a path many of his classmates followed.
He claimed to have a background in the Ministry of Defence and discussed how the Chernobyl explosion had spread radioactive contaminants across Europe.
The UK debris effects were minimal – but this is not what Beaumont told Alex.
During the winter of 1987, Beaumont called him into a private room at the teenager’s home.
Alex said: “That’s when he told me the story of how he had seen my name on a spreadsheet while working part-time at the MOD.
“It was all related to Chernobyl and the idea there were certain proteins in my lymph glands which meant I was susceptible to the radiation that came out of the nuclear disaster.”
He added: “We trusted this man. He wormed his way into my family.”
Beaumont had Alex strip down as he got out a “medical kit bag” which he carried around as part of his act.
The abuser took out a syringe and injected it into the lymph glands, which included under his arms, down his legs and in his groin area.
He then injected the syringes into Alex’s urethra and back passage.
The ‘tests’ took place on two more occasions.
‘Who else has been damaged?’
Alex added: “For a long time after them I’d have scars and massive cuts where the injections had gone in.”
It would be decades later, in 2016, when Alex would get visit from the police asking him about his experience with Beaumont.
Officers told him two other victims had come forward and they wanted him to testify.
Alex said: “You repress these types of things, and it was only because of the police visit…it all comes out.”
By now Beaumont was living in Bury, Greater Manchester, and working as a funeral celebrant.
To Alex, it was unthinkable that his abuser be allowed to work in a job that involves day-to-day contact with vulnerable individuals.
He says: “Who else has been damaged because I’ve not spoken out for over 20 years?
“We should feel quite guilty. But then again, there are a number of people who also held this type of thing in for an awful long time.
“Because you just don’t want it to be true.”
There was justice for Alex and several others when Beaumont was jailed in 2017, with a judge labelling him “a sex monster”.
Susan Beaumont, the monster’s wife who he met at St Andrews University in the 80s, faced aiding and abetting charges which were later dropped.
Mrs Beaumont could not be reach for comment.
St Andrews attacks
Last week at Glasgow High Court, Beaumont, who video called from Edinburgh wearing a maroon jumper, was described as a “predator” by Lord Mulholland as he was sentenced.
The court was told he deceived three “young, impressionable” students between 1986 and 1988 by falsely claiming they were in danger from the fallout of Chernobyl.
Like he did with Alex, Beaumont pretended to be employed by the Ministry of Defence, even going as far as to produce “false identification, documents and consent forms”.
Beaumont assaulted three students, asking a male student a sexual question during an examination similar to Alex’s, penetrating him with his finger and requesting he masturbate.
He also subjected two other victims, including a female, to undressing and “medical examinations”.
Beaumont then threatened the students that disclosing his actions would constitute a breach of the law, citing the Official Secrets Act.
Lord Mulholland, before sentencing him, said: “You are a predator. Your conduct was predatory and depraved.
“Looking at your criminal record, it tells me that you’re a serial offender who’s repeatedly committed very serious sexual crimes.”
Beaumont’s defence argued he posed limited risk to the public citing his age and that he showed “both insight and remorse in relation to his offending”.
Alex says: “The judge is obviously correct about his predatory nature.
“But Beaumont has spent a lifetime convincing people that he’s remorseful and he’s in remission.”
Alex still hold St Andrews University accountable for the power it gave Beaumont over younger students.
Alex said: “John Beaumont shouldn’t have been in the position to offend in the first place.”
St Andrews University refused to comment on this story.
Detective Constable Mark Falconer, of Levenmouth CID, said: “We treat all reports of sexual crime seriously and I would urge anyone who has been a victim to come forward, no matter how much time has passed, and report it to police.
“Be assured we will fully investigate, and you will be supported by police and our partner agencies.
“Anyone with any concerns or information can report them to police by calling 101 or calling Crimestoppers, where anonymity can be obtained, on 0800 555 111.”
If you would like to get in touch with our investigations reporter Brendan Duggan, please email brendan.duggan@dcthomson.co.uk
