Victim of sexually abusive cult leader James ‘Taipan’ Salerno tells court of her lonely, ongoing battle to recover from his cruelty
She survived a childhood of sexual abuse at the hands of a cult leader known as “Taipan” (pictured) – only to have her recovery hampered by experts more interested in the bizarre group than in her wellbeing.
- Self-styled ‘happiness’ guru facing child sex charges
- ‘Cult leader trained girl to be servant, then sexually abused her’
- Guilty: James Salerno convicted of child sex abuse
The survivor of a cultist’s sexual abuse says she has fought a lonely battle to recover – because counsellors are more interested in the group’s inner workings than her health.
The now-adult woman, abused by James Gino Salerno as a child, has told the District Court she still fears his worshippers will exact revenge upon her for bringing down their “god”.
On Monday, she urged the court to jail Salerno – also known as “Taipan” – for a lengthy period to protect other children, still living in the cult, from suffering as she did.
“I was told time and time again by Taipan and other members that humanity was on earth to serve Taipain, and I should be honoured and privileged to serve him,” she said.
“I felt like I was brainwashed, belittled, just a piece of meat for his pleasure whenever he wanted … the cycle of mental torture has continued since.
“I felt I had no one to talk to, no one who could understand what I had lived through when I was a child.
“I had to change counsellors multiple times as they were more interested in the inner workings of the cult than in myself.”
Salerno, 72, was found guilty at trial of eight out of nine allegations of child sexual abuse.
For seven years, he ran a cult out of an Adelaide Hills mansion – complete with its own barracks – devoted to crafting the “Ideal Human Environment”.
Salerno sought to find “a way that human beings can live together in harmony by an advanced understanding of human understanding”.
Known to his devotees as “Taipan”, Salerno headed up the cult because – he claimed – he possessed the highest “emotional quotient”.
His followers were instructed to align their “thought patterns” with his, because they were “good and pure and right”.
Salerno’s physical, emotional and hygiene needs were seen to by “numerous women”, including his victim.
She was 12 when she was selected to join his groomers and sexually abused from just before her 13th birthday to the time she was 15 ½.
Prosecutors alleged that, within just one six-month window during that period, Salerno offended against her 50 times.
The victim did not speak out, and nor did her parents, due to both their belief in Salerno’s teachings and their fear of his cruel, regimented disciplinary practices.
Punishments included being struck in the head with a knotted, 1.2m-long wooden stick, being made to sleep outside and being given no food for the day.
The victim escaped the cult in 2009 and was disowned by her family, but maintained secret communications with her mother – who has since left the group.
Salerno has already flagged his intent to appeal the guilty verdict.
In her victim impact statement on Monday, the woman said Salerno’s influence had been so great that, at times, she felt he “was still having control over my life”.
That – together with flashbacks and post-traumatic stress – had affected not only her relationships with her husband and children, but also her professional career.
“After Taipan’s arrest I felt very uneasy and unsafe, like I had put my family in harm’s way because I got (the cult’s) leader, their god, arrested,” she said.
She said threatening letters from cultists – and approaches from her father and older brothers, who still follow Salerno – left her “insanely scared”.
“I’ve had members of the cult come to my workplace and harass me … his relentless control continues to have me fear for my safety,” she said.
“Should he be released, I feel shocked and terrified he would do to another minor what he did to me.”
David Edwardson QC, for Salerno, said there was no evidence that suggested his client had a “tendency” toward sexual interest in minors.
He said Salerno could only be sentenced on the basis of one course of offending, not an ongoing threat to the welfare of children.
Mr Edwardson said his client was a highly-respected academic, teacher and business owner whose many referees insisted the offending was “out of character”.
Patrick Hill, prosecuting, said Salerno’s “calculated grooming” and position within the cult placed him among the worst kind of sex offenders.
“He installed himself as this group’s feared leader, effectively taking over parental responsibility for all their children, and was ultimately in charge of his victim,” he said.
“He cultivated a position where no one, including her parents, could or would question him, and he used that position to sexually abuse her.
“In these extraordinary circumstances, the nature and the extent of the breach of trust is difficult to fathom.”
Judge Paul Slattery remanded Salerno in custody for sentencing in three weeks.