SA court told woman ‘forced to have sex with other men while secretly being filmed’ alerted police to massive weapons cache
Police were alerted to a hidden cache of more than 250 weapons, in the Adelaide Hills, by a woman who had been forced to have sex with other men — and filmed doing it — a court has heard.
A man whose Adelaide Hills property was filled with illegal weapons forced a woman to have sex with other men, filmed it secretly and threatened to release the videos if she disobeyed him, a court has heard.
For the first time, the Adelaide Magistrates Court has heard the allegations that led SA Police to a remote rural property last week — and to the discovery of an arsenal of knives, explosives and more than 250 guns.
Sergeant Trent Matijevic, prosecuting, said the man — who cannot be identified — was arrested thanks to a woman whom he had subjected to sexual and emotional violence.
“She reported to police that (the man) had forced her to engage in sexual activity with other men in the house and elsewhere,” Sgt Matijevic said.
“She had told him ‘I’ve had enough of this, I don’t want to do this anymore’ (but) he had been filming these acts without her knowledge or consent.
“He then threatened he would disseminate videos and send images to her friends and family if she did not, essentially, do as she was told (so) she made a report to police.”
The man, 58, whose identity is suppressed, has yet to plead to offences including possession of unregistered firearms.
The charges relate to a three-day raid of his property, north of Mt Barker, that saw police recover 264 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, gunpowder and silencers.
Police also seized throwing knives, daggers, bayonets and a crossbow.
One of the weapons seized was an SKS assault rifle similar to one used in a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas that killed 20 people.
At the time, police said that rifle was a weapon “made for war” and “purely designed for killing people”.
On Friday, Craig Caldicott, for the man, asked his client be released on bail — with two guarantors — to live at the property.
“It’s a farm, and on that farm are horses and cattle, and currently no one is looking after them,” he said.
“He has to muster them, put them up for sale, do the work and maintain the property … if he’s in custody, he will not be in a position to pay the mortgage.”
He said his client’s “strict instructions” were that none of the guns were loaded — but Sgt Matijevic said officers had found a loaded handgun in the man’s bedside table.
“Ten guns were seized on the first day, followed by a further 38, then a more comprehensive search revealed 225 other firearms hidden in the roof cavity of the house,” he said.
“Of those, 12 were loaded and others were in close proximity to ammunition … explosives were also found, and investigators suspect (the man) was manufacturing firearms.”
He urged the court to refuse bail, saying the “complex” investigation was “in its infancy” meaning both it and the woman were vulnerable to the man’s interference or “coercion”.
Magistrate John Fahey agreed the allegations were serious, and said he would only be prepared to grant home detention bail.
He remanded the man in custody until next week for a home detention suitability report.