The five highly-educated girlfriends of a man accused of keeping a sex slave made a lengthy journey to support him in court on Wednesday, only to be turned away when the case got adjourned.
The women – Charlotte, Sophie, Hanne, Hunter and Finlay – entered the New South Wales Supreme Court side-by-side as their boyfriend, James-Robert Davis, applied for bail accused of keeping a woman as a slave and forcing her into prostitution.
The women made the six-hour trek from the home they share in Yarrowyck, about 30km outside of Armidale, to put on a united front as the court heard they remain in a consensual polyamorous BDSM relationship.
Among the five partners was Davis’ pregnant girlfriend of six years Charlotte. The women wore matching black face masks and sunglasses.
They entered and exited the court in a pack, moving in sync before sitting next to one another in front row of the court, all craning to get a good look of their lover on the main screen.
Charlotte, Sophie, Hanne, Hunter and Finlay entered the NSW Supreme Court side by side as their boyfriend, James-Robert Davis, appeared via video link on Wednesday afternoon
Five highly educated, sexually adventurous women (pictured) have arrived at the NSW Supreme Court to stand by their man as he languishes in jail accused of keeping a sex slave
Davis (centre) had allegedly been living with as many as six women he called ‘slaves’ at his home near Armidale in northern New South Wales
Charlotte, Sophie, Hanne, Hunter and Finlay entered the court side by side to support their boyfriend, James-Robert Davis
The court previously heard the women deny allegations that Davis is in the business of keeping women as his slaves.
Davis, a former solider and prison officer and self-proclaimed ‘kinky sex overlord’, is facing charges of possessing a slave, reducing a person to slavery and causing a person to remain in servitude.
He is accused of making a woman sign a contract to enter into slavery, forcing her to wear a steel collar and locking her in a cage for up to three days.
Police allege that woman was subjected to extreme violence and threatened with court action if she broke the contract for indiscretions including going to the toilet without obtaining permission.
Each of the women refute allegations that Davis is in the business of keeping women as his slaves
The women, who are all in a polyamorous relationship with Davis, made the six-hour trek from the home they share in Yarrowyck, about 30km outside of Armidale, to put on a united front
The property also contained a shed which had a barber’s chair and boxes filled with whips, collars and other sex instruments
James Robert Davis (pictured), 40, has been charged with slavery offences
None of the charges relate to his present girlfriends, and they all insist they are in a consensual and loving polyamorous relationship with the 40-year-old.
Each of the women is educated, most have stable jobs and they all have access to personal bank accounts, own their own cars and are free to travel however they wish.
Charlotte is an English as a second language teacher with a Master of Teaching.
None of the charges relate to his present girlfriends, and they all insist they are in a consensual and loving polyamorous relationship with the 40-year-old
Pictured is a supplied Australian Federal Police photo of their Thursday afternoon raid on the sprawling rural estate
Pictured: Robert James Davis (centre) with lingerie-clad women. He has been charged with slavery offences
The couple are due to give birth to their first child later this year.
One of the women is completing a Bachelor of Laws while another works with animals.
A third is undertaking a finance degree and the final girlfriend is employed as a nurse.
As someone familiar with the make up of the relationship put it; ‘they’re not just some junkies from Mt Druitt who have grabbed onto a sex cult because it’s thrilling.’
Finlay is employed as a laboratory technician while undertaking a Bachelor of Finance and finally, Hunter is a registered nurse and also completing a Diploma in Mathematics
Australian Federal Police vision is pictured of the moment Davis was arrested by officers outside the Bunnings in Armidale, northern New South Wales on Thursday afternoon
An Australian Federal Police supplied picture of multiple cabins on the rural NSW property
On Wednesday, Davis’ barrister Ian Lloyd QC, supported by solicitor Bianca Barnes, from George Sten & Co, were expected to make a bid for Davis’ bail with his five girlfriends watching from the wings
On Wednesday, Davis’ barrister Ian Lloyd QC, supported by solicitor Bianca Barnes, from George Sten & Co, were expected to make a bid for Davis’ bail.
Instead, they asked the court for a suppression order on the entire case, arguing that their client would not be granted a fair trial due to media scrutiny.
The magistrate admitted it was unlikely the request would be granted, but adjourned the bail application until after she could make a decision on the application of a suppression order.
‘There is obviously significant media interest… I can assume that reflects the wish of the public,’ Justice Helen Wilson said.
Mr Lloyd, who was the state’s Senior Crown Prosecutor before returning to private practice, is representing Davis and will be rigorously defending the charges.
Davis (pictured) spent 17 years with the Australian Defence Force and served in the second Gulf War, the court heard
Four large wooden sandboxes with women’s names engraved on the side are pictured on Davis’ property
Several small wooden huts are scattered throughout the rural property, several hundred metres from the main home
He maintains Davis has ‘done nothing wrong’ and is simply in a consensual polyamorous relationship with five women which ‘may have elements of BDSM’.
‘As strange as this case may be, it is very defendable,’ Mr Lloyd said. ‘And it will be strenuously defended because my client has said all along he’s done nothing wrong.’
Davis styles himself as the patriarch of the ‘House of Cadifor’ which includes the five women who have allegedly signed ‘slavery’ contracts.
‘I’m instructed that nothing that has occurred in their interplay with my client is a slave relationship or non-consensual,’ Mr Lloyd said at a previous court hearing.
Images released by the Australian Federal Police show the property contained a shed with large wooden doors
The Australian Federal Police raided the sprawling rural property of James Robert Davis about 30km outside Armidale, northern New South Wales, last Thursday
‘It’s said that when my client’s premises were raided a cage was seen. I’m instructed that, as much as a cage may have been involved with the complainant, that cage had no bottom, could be lifted up, and one could simply unlock the door by putting one’s arm around through it.’
‘Each of these women — if they’re a slave — has had the opportunity to run away; they have not done so,’ Mr Lloyd said.
‘My client won’t be on trial for being a member of a cult even if, ultimately, that was accepted as a fact,’ Mr Lloyd said, according to The Telegraph.
‘There is no crime in lifestyle choices, no crime associated with consensual BDSM, these matters are not crimes and he has not been charged.’