Revealed for the first time, Colt family photo album offers glimpse of life inside Australia’s incest clan

EXCLUSIVE: They are photos which could have been taken of any happy family down on the farm. The difference is these innocent youngsters’ faces have had to be pixelated to protect their identities because the incest crimes against them are so horrific.

Father Christmas: Charlie Colt dressed as Santa on the family farm.

PHOTOS have been obtained that show, for the first time ever, life inside the sickening Colt incest clan described by senior police as like nothing they have ever seen.

The family snaps, given exclusively to News Corp Australia, show the smiling faces of children who would go on to claim their father and uncle were the same man.

They show glimpses of little girls and boys who would tell caseworkers they suffered regular sexual abuse, and when taken into care were described as malnourished, unhygenic and struggling to speak.

In one photo Charlie Colt — a man believed to have fathered children with his sister, according to the testimony of the Colt children — poses for the camera dressed up as Santa Claus on Christmas Day.

“I wanted to keep the children’s spirits high,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

One of the young Colt children is pictured here riding around on a quad bike on their farm in rural New South Wales. Charlie Colt said the family members were big motorsport fans.

The young victims at the centre of Australia’s most shocking abuse case can be seen riding around on quad bikes and smiling among vegetable gardens — masking the revolting reality of their daily lives.

According to a sensational Children’s Court hearing, the Colt clan tortured animals and mutilated their genitalia.

But in the photos uncovered today, a young Colt girl smiles at a pony kept in a pen on the property raided by authorities in the winter of 2012.

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The photos, along with a number of extraordinary documents, were made available to News Corp by Charlie Colt in a bid to absolve the clan of the allegations levelled at them.

“If you look at all the children, I don’t think there’s too many that look alike, to say that they’re interrelated,” Charlie Colt said.

“I think it’s disgusting the allegations they’re making. Both my parents have passed away and I’ve been asked to clear the family name, to prove all these allegations are false.”

One of the Colt girls smiles at a pony kept in a makeshift pens on the farm. The Colts kept four ponies, as well as rabbits, cats and dogs and carers would later hear how children mutilated the animals.

However, according to the evidence gathered by the 41-year-old, the Colt children underwent treatment for a number of serious conditions during their time on the compound.

Many of the afflictions were described as “congenital” by their local doctor.

“These have varied from Chronic Renal Failure, Acute Glaucoma, Pneumonia, a Congenital heart problem to multiple middle ear and throat infections,” a letter dated September 23, 2012 reads.

Charlie Colt repeatedly denied claims of incest, child abuse and sexual assault levelled at the family.

He also said a bus and speedboat owned by the family were paid for with the proceeds of a Victorian farm sold by his parents.

Among the more serious revelations of the Colt children were the claims that Charlie Colt slept regularly with his sister Martha and that he raped young girls.

He claimed NSW police fabricated evidence and that the genetic testing tendered in the Children’s Court proceedings — which said 11 of the children removed had parents who were related — was unreliable.

The remote campsite in southern New South Wales, where generations of children from the same family were found living in filth in sheds and broken down caravans, without running water or electricity.

Betty Colt entering Moss Vale court

When The Daily Telegraph pointed out a number of apparent defects in the photos of the children, he remained stubborn.

“Because a little girl’s teeth doesn’t quite form properly in the gums, I’ve travelled the world and seen that thousands of times,” he said.

“You say her eyes aren’t quite symmetric, you may be right, but that does not mean that she’s a product of an evil act.

“For the rest of my life, even if I walk through court tomorrow, I’m going to be called that person that raped that nine-year-old … it makes me feel sick to the stomach, it makes me feel bewildered and I am absolutely disappointed in the justice system.”

Charlie Colt was arrested at Sydney airport on September 3, when he returned from a “fact-finding” mission to England and New Zealand. and provided DNA evidence to police.

He says he and his relatives will plead “not guilty” to any charges brought against them and would appeal any conviction they received.

His sister Betty is due to front the District Court today in an appeal of the conviction handed down to her earlier this month over a plot to kidnap her own children back from foster carers.

Originally published as Revealed for the first time, Colt family photo album offers glimpse of life inside Australia’s incest clan