A former soldier accused of slavery offences has been refused bail at a court in Armidale.
James Robert Davis, 40, who also worked as a prison officer at Silverwater and Long Bay jails, is charged with three offences including possessing a slave and causing a person to remain in servitude.
The charges relate to a woman who police allege was kept as a slave from 2013 to 2015 at Maroubra in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Today, Mr Davis’ barrister Ian Lloyd QC told the court while the case was “strange” it was “very defendable”.
“My client has said all along he’s done nothing wrong,” Mr Lloyd told Armidale Local Court via a video link.
Mr Lloyd also said Mr Davis’ five partners supported him, one of whom is 17 weeks pregnant.
“They are living with him in a polyamorous relationship with elements of BDSM. Nothing that has occurred is a slave relationship or non-consensual,” he said.
The prosecutor told the court the alleged victim had been forced to do sex work without payment, had her finances controlled, and had been kept against her will and physically assaulted.
Late this afternoon Magistrate Vivien Swain refused bail and told the court she did not feel that any bail conditions would ameliorate the risk of endangering the safety of the alleged victim or potential interference with witnesses.
Before his bail was refused, the court was told Mr Davis served in the second Gulf War and that the alleged victim was a cadet training at the NSW Police academy in Goulburn.
In a documentary, Mr Davis has previously claimed he’s the leader of cult called “The House of Cadifor” and keeps female slaves who enter contracts and wear slave collars.
“Everyone knows who we are that weird polyamorous family…. we’re the polygamist sex cult,” he said in a video posted online.
9News understands the 40-year-old was previously banned from the grounds of the University of New England where at least one of his partners studied.
After the bail hearing, his five partners left court without making any comment.
This content first appear on 9news