Colt family incest accused refused bail

One of eight members of a family allegedly involved in an “alarming level of intra-familial sexual activity” in NSW has been refused bail.

One of eight members of a family allegedly involved in an “alarming level of intra-familial sexual activity” in NSW has been refused bail.

Cliff Colt, a pseudonym used for legal reasons, is charged with 21 offences allegedly committed between early 2010 and mid-2012, including inciting an adult to have sexual intercourse with a child and inciting a child to commit an indecent act on another child.

Some of the counts are alternative or back-up charges.

A member for the Colt family is escorted by police through Sydney Domestic Airport last April. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

The 37-year-old made an application for bail in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday but it was refused by Justice Robert Allan Hulme.

Cliff Colt has been in custody since April 2018 and is awaiting a District Court trial in February 2020.

The judge on Friday said he had grave concerns about Colt’s lack of community ties if released to live in a rental home.

The family property of the Colt family.

He had a genuine concern he could interfere with witnesses including three young male complainants who are also Colt’s relatives.

“This is a family that is alleged to have been involved in an alarming level of intra-familial sexual activity, many of it constituting criminal offences,” Justice Hulme said.

Property on the Colt family farm.

“It might be perceived that there is a mutual interest in those members of the family who are crown witnesses being encouraged,to put it mildly, to modify the evidence that they might give in the future (court) proceedings.”

The family’s matriarch, 52-year-old Betty Colt, was granted bail on Wednesday on six charges including perjury.