MICHIGAN
MLive
By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com
on November 28, 2014
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The government says John Balyo, the former Christian radio host who was fired when he was arrested for sexually assaulting a young boy, had an anatomically correct child-sized male mannequin seized by federal investigators, records show.
He kept the mannequin, tied up and in a dog crate and a federal prosecutor said he would point a pistol at it before masturbating.
Balyo, 35, a former host at WCSG, will be sentenced Dec. 11 on federal charges of sexual exploitation of a child and possessing child pornography. He’s already serving 25 to 50 years in prison on child sexual abuse convictions from state courts.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Hessmiller filed a sentencing memorandum this week that outlined the allegations against Balyo as well as disturbing items seized by investigators.
Here are some items of evidence police seized:
• A bondage kit, which included four pairs of handcuffs, rolls of duct tape, a parachute cord, nylon rope, 107 zip ties, rubber gloves, two 18-inch chains and a padlock. He brought the kit with him when he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy at hotels in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.
• Photos that Balyo took in 2008 of a then-16-year-old boy who was bound but not nude.
• A thumb drive that included encrypted files titled: “hostage1” and “hostage2.”
• Newspaper clippings related to the kidnapping, death and sexual abuse of children.
•A collection of children’s obituaries.
• A notebook with many boys’ names and phrases such as “swimming,” “photo shoot,” “sleeping/napping,” “strapped down,” “boy/cub scout,” “headlock,” “abuse” and “swim lessons.”
• Articles about BTK (bind, torture, kill) serial killer Dennis Rader, who killed 10 in Kansas between 1974 and 1991.
• Photographs of naked children.
• DVDs, a camera, a camcorder
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