Frank Colt was family’s ‘white sheep’, says lawyer

A member of the infamous “Colt” clan accused of “abhorrent” generational incest and child abuse has appeared in court.

Central Local Court, where Frank Colt appeared via audiovisual link.

A member of the infamous “Colt” clan accused of “abhorrent” generational incest and child abuse has been described by his lawyer as the “white sheep” of his family.

Frank Colt, 48, who is charged with four counts of inciting sexual intercourse between children under the age of 10, appeared via audiovisual link at Sydney’s Central Local Court today, where his lawyer Robert Bucksath argued for bail.

But police prosecutor Katharine Jeffreys opposed the application, citing a number of unacceptable risks, especially “when examined in the context of the family history”.

In her submissions, Ms Jeffreys said Mr Colt, who is appearing in the case under a court-imposed pseudonym, had no ongoing employment or community support and there were concerns the family members would “try and congregate”.

It was also revealed a number of the child victims had “absconded” from care to rejoin the clan after they had been separated by police.

The prosecutor said in addition to allegations of physical and sexual abuse over several generations, there was evidence the family had used coercive tactics to maintain secrecy and avoid the detection of police and social services.

But Mr Colt’s lawyer Robert Bucksath said the prosecution was attempting to tar his client with “the same brush” as his family.

While Mr Bucksath described the allegations of incest and pedophilia as “abhorrent”, he said the prosecution’s claims Mr Colt lived a nomadic lifestyle and maintained regular contact with the Colts were “plainly wrong”

“He had been gainfully employed for a long period of time and been a productive member of the community,” Mr Bucksath said. “He shouldn’t be thrown in with the other family members, who may have lived on the edges of society.”

He argued police were attempting to mislead the court and described the allegations against his client as “pure speculation”.

But Ms Jeffreys vehemently disagreed, saying two witnesses had made allegations against him.

Mr Colt is accused of inciting sexual intercourse in an incident alleged to have ocurred by a water tank at the family’s isolated bush camp in southwestern NSW, between 2011 and 2012.

Eight adult members of the family, including Mr Colt, were arrested in April of this year after a six-year investigation by a special NSW police taskforce.

The court heard several of the children suffered from cognitive and developmental delays, had been living in squalid conditions and were “vulnerable to coercion”.

Mr Bucksath asked Magistrate Freund not to get “caught up” with the emotion of the overall case but she refused bail, describing the police facts as a “very sobering read”.