Cops ‘warned about alleged sex-slave ring’
Former member told police two years ago that group’s leader was grooming teenage girls and coercing them into sex acts.
A former member of an allegedly abusive “sex-slave” ring says she warned police two years ago that the group’s leader was grooming teenage girls and coercing them to engage in sex acts with each other as he recorded the encounters for his own gratification.
The woman claimed the leader, James Robert Davis, was obsessed with “curating” perfect women; subjecting the group’s female members to rigorous exercise sessions to keep them in shape; and instructing them to address him as “Master, Daddy or Sir”.
The woman, whom The Australian has agreed not to identify given her young age at the time of her involvement, said she met with officers at Blacktown Police Station in 2019 and outlined several serious allegations regarding Mr Davis but broke down before she was able to give a full statement.
She said she had suffered from post-traumatic stress since leaving the group but said other members seemed content to let the 40-year-old leader control their lives — and revealed one of his “slaves” had last week celebrated sharing the news she was expecting a baby with him in September.
The pregnancy announcement came one day before Australian Federal Police arrested Mr Davis outside a hardware store in Armidale, six hours’ north of Sydney, and charged him with reducing a person to slavery, possessing a slave and causing a person to enter into or remain in servitude.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough said the alleged offences related to a woman who had endured “very, very severe physical, sexual and psychological abuse on a daily basis” while living with Mr Davis in Sydney between 2012 and 2015.
She alleged the woman was “coerced, manipulated and threatened to be involved in a bondage lifestyle” and forced to work as a prostitute after she agreed to sign a “slavery contract”.
“There were aspects of possession, a slavery contract and there were aspects of a slave collar and a slave tattoo,” she alleged. “She was forced into prostitution with no pay; she was threatened with physical abuse and threats of death if she left.”
It is alleged Mr Davis had been living with six women on a property at Yarrowyck, 30km west of Armidale, at the time of his arrest.
AFP agents waited until the former Australian Army soldier went into town last Thursday before swooping on him. More than 50 AFP investigators have since combed the property for evidence.
Phones, a camera, computers and other material seized during the operation were undergoing forensic analysis, while Ms Gough called for anyone with further information about the alleged sex ring to come forward.
The woman who spoke to The Australian said she would be willing to give evidence regarding her time in the group if required and make herself available to the AFP to assist with their inquiries.
She said she was 16 and at her most vulnerable when she met Mr Davis — two decades her senior — at a house party in suburban Sydney and fell under his sway.
“I met James in 2015 and he asked to take photos of me which started off innocent enough — me fully clothed and posing at the party — just like a party photographer,” the now 22-year-old said. “We live in a world where we are taught to trust the military and that they’ll protect us and perhaps it’s naive but I thought that meant he was someone I should trust.
“Then he introduced me to one of his partners and asked if he could take some photos of us together. We all exchanged contact details and then he was inviting me over to his house for ‘photoshoots’.
“Next thing I know I’m at his house and he is asking if he can tie me up and take photos. He took photos of me while (one member performed a sex act with me) and then he has sex with me while he gets his girlfriends to take photos.
“I was 16, he was 35 and I consented to sex but I didn’t consent to the photos. He would have me in vulnerable sexual positions and have his girlfriends take photos against my wishes.”
She said she remained an extended member of the group for just over a year, and claimed that female “slaves” were forced to obey Mr Davis’s every whim.
“He forces them to do labour as well,” she alleged. “The slaves built the cabins on his property. He even controls their diet and exercise ... and the slaves have enforced gym routines.
“He believes he is pushing them all to be the best a woman can be ... but he’s really just moulding women to his ideals.”