Journalist honored for role in Ayres child abuse prosecution By Sean Maher San Mateo County Times Posted: 09/24/2009 07:36:28 PM PDT Updated: 09/24/2009 07:36:28 PM PDT   With the second child abuse trial of once prominent psychiatrist William Ayres likely to begin early next year, the woman many people credit with crusading for his prosecution will be recognized today with an award for her role in the case.   Victoria Balfour, a freelance journalist who lives in New York City, said she has been talking with alleged victims of Ayres' abuse since 2002. Prosecutors and police said her role in getting those victims to come forward with their stories was a critical step in building their case against Ayres.   Balfour, 55, will be given the Award for Excellence in the Media for meritorious public service at the 14th International Conference on Family Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego.   "We're looking for a journalist willing to take some risk, to put themselves out there to expose information and facilitate some form of societal change," said Joyanna Silberg, who helped choose a winner among the nominees. "Vicky fulfilled the category because of her relentless pursuit of this one story."   Balfour said she stumbled onto the story.   "I never even heard of San Mateo, much less could find it on a map," she said. "Now I feel like it's as much a home as the place I grew up." She said she found one of Ayres' alleged victims almost by accident.   "A man who lived in Brooklyn, a friend of a friend who grew up in San Mateo, called me about getting into journalism," she said. "He asked what kinds of Advertisement stories I worked on, and I'd written a personal story for 'Vogue' where I had to reveal I'd been molested as a child. Then he revealed he'd been molested by his psychiatrist." The man was willing to press charges but only if Balfour found another witness willing to do the same, she said.   "Eventually, I had to look up Dr. Ayres to see if he was still alive," she said. "I was afraid to find out, because I knew if he was I would have to do something and I was terrified." Since then, Balfour says, she's met or spoken with 15 or 16 alleged victims, including one she found three weeks ago who told her he was molested in 1969.   "That's not within the statute of limitations, but I told him to call the police detective anyway," Balfour said.   Balfour's encouragement made a big difference in the case, prosecutors said.   "She was very instrumental, and played a significant role getting victims to come forward," San Mateo Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. "She basically had a quest to bring Dr. Ayers to justice. She worked, at times without a lot of appreciation, to get it into police officers' hands."   Balfour did not get specific about her future plans, but said she has hired a book agent for a project still under development.   The first trial against Ayres was declared a mistrial due to a hung jury. A meeting to schedule the beginning of the second trial is set for early October, and Wagstaffe said he expects that trial to begin in early 2010.