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Home / World

Images released from alleged 'sex cult leader' James Robert Davis' home

By Ben Graham
news.com.au·
16 Mar, 2021 09:52 PM3 mins to read

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In one part of the sprawling property sat four wooden sandpit-like boxes, each with a woman's name on it. Photo / AFP

In one part of the sprawling property sat four wooden sandpit-like boxes, each with a woman's name on it. Photo / AFP

Disturbing images have offered a glimpse inside the "House of Cadifor" where a self-proclaimed Australian "kinky sex overlord" allegedly kept six women as slaves.

The Australian Federal Police released images from inside James Robert Davis' sprawling rural estate near Armidale, northern New South Wales, after spending 15 hours raiding the property on Thursday.

Pictures from the raid show the property dotted with small wooden huts several hundred metres away from the main home, featuring single beds, no airconditioning and flimsy curtains.

Four large wooden sandboxes engraved with women's names are also nearby. It is not clear what they were to be used for.

In one part of the sprawling property sat four wooden sandpit-like boxes, each with a woman's name on it. Photo / AFP
In one part of the sprawling property sat four wooden sandpit-like boxes, each with a woman's name on it. Photo / AFP
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Police also found a shed with a barber's chair and boxes filled with whips, collars and other sex instruments.

Davis – a 17-year veteran of the Australian Defence Force – was arrested outside the Armidale Bunnings after the raid and later charged with possessing a slave, reducing a person to slavery and causing a person to remain in servitude.

The charges relate to the alleged slavery of a woman between 2012 and 2015 in Maroubra, Sydney's south, years before he moved to his Yarrowyck property, about 30km outside of Armidale.

"Police allege the man manipulated an alleged victim between 2012 to 2015 for a so-called 'cult', and the victim was later subjected to ongoing physical, sexual and psychological abuse and degradation," Australian Federal Police said.

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The woman was allegedly engaged in prostitution under the coercive control of Davis and did not receive payment for her involvement.

Police found a barber's chair. Photo / AFP
Police found a barber's chair. Photo / AFP

Police also allege the woman was physically assaulted by Davis and subjected to death threats after expressing her desire to leave.

More than 50 AFP investigators and forensic specialists spent last week searching Davis' Yarrowyck property and seized phones, cameras and computers.

Davis had allegedly been living with six women at his rural home who had signed slavery contracts and were in his "possession".

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The AFP said Davis allegedly referred to himself as the patriarch of a group known as the "House of Cadifor".

Davis appeared in Inverell Local Court on Friday, where no application for bail was made.
He is next due to appear in Armidale Local Court on Wednesday.

Police said the charges relate to one alleged victim but more charges could be laid.

A box of whips and chains was also found in the shed. Photo / AFP
A box of whips and chains was also found in the shed. Photo / AFP

Davis used social media to detail life inside "The House of Cadifor" and at one point even tried to raise money to fund a reality TV show.

But although he was more than happy to share footage showing the women worshipping him, he rarely included images of their living quarters.

James Robert Davis had allegedly been living with six women at his rural home. Photo / Supplied
James Robert Davis had allegedly been living with six women at his rural home. Photo / Supplied

He moved to Armidale – which he described as a "highly conservative town" – after serving 17 years in the military, he claims.

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Davis constructed a dungeon, called House of Cadifor: Fetish Playroom, in the basement of the home.

He has previously described himself as a "rope performer, fetish photographer, BDSM writer, kink educator, lifestyle dominant and consent advocate".

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