A former soldier accused of keeping a woman in a cage and forcing her to wear a steel collar allegedly told her that being his slave was all about ‘women’s power’.
James-Robert Davis, a self-proclaimed ‘kinky sex overlord’, allegedly made the woman sign a ‘slave contract’, which she believed was a legally binding document.
If she broke any of the ‘protocols’ in the contract Davis would allegedly punish the woman with extreme violence or warn she could be charged by a court.
Davis has now been charged with possessing a slave, reducing a person to slavery and causing a person to remain in servitude.
He is accused of forcing the woman to seek his permission to use the toilet – even if he wasn’t home – and to answer the front door naked then kiss his feet when he returned.
A former soldier accused of keeping a woman in a cage and forcing her to wear a steel collar allegedly told her that being his slave was all about ‘women’s power’. Police raided his property in northern NSW last week and allegedly found property including a barber’s chair (pictured)
James-Robert Davis, a self-proclaimed ‘kinky sex overlord’ and former soldier who served in Iraq, allegedly had a woman sign a ‘slave contract’, which she believed was a legally binding document
Davis has been charged with possessing a slave, reducing a person to slavery and causing a person to remain in servitude. He is pictured centre with lingerie-clad women
The 40-year-old appeared before Armidale Local Court in northern New South Wales on Wednesday, supported by five women with whom he is in a polyamorous relationship.
When police executed a search warrant on his home at nearby Yarrowyck last Thursday they allegedly seized metal slave collar rings and found Allen keys used to open them in his wallet.
They also allegedly located multiple slavery and servitude contracts between Davis and other women. One ‘contract of fealty to Master James’ was signed by him and a ‘hand maiden’.
The charges relate to a woman Davis met in 2012 when he was serving the Army. The pair soon began living together at Maroubra in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The woman initially consented when Davis began to introduce bondage, discipline sadism and masochism (BDSM) during sex because it did not intrude on their day-to-day lives.
But two months into the relationship Davis allegedly punched the woman with a strike she described as between a slap and a jab and she fell to the ground into the gutter.
‘If I can do this to you in public with all these people around, imagine what I can do to you in private,’ Davis told her, according to a statement of facts tendered in court.
Davis allegedly began isolating the woman from her family and friends and took over handling her financial matters.
About three months into the relationship BDSM allegedly began to be incorporated into all aspects of the couple’s lifestyle.
images released by the Australian Federal Police following the raid on the property where Davis lived with five women outside Armidale show small wooden huts with single beds (pictured)
James-Robert Davis (pictured), 40, appeared before Armidale Local Court via videolink on Wednesday having been charged with slavery offences. He was refused bail
‘The accused told the victim that they were gong to be in a master/submissive relationship,’ the statement of facts said. ‘The accused had the victim study “submissive protocols” and told the victim she had to wear a “submissive collar”.’
The collar was described as a thick stainless steel ring which was secured by an Allen key and worn around the woman’s neck at all times.
By the end of 2012 a second woman was introduced to the relationship, followed by a third. Davis allegedly told the victim she was being promoted to ‘slave’ and asked her to sign a ‘slave contract’ which had accompanying ‘slave protocols’.
‘The accused told the victim that being slave is all about “women’s power”,’ the statement of facts said.
‘The victim believed that the relationship would improve and she would have more power if she was his slave.
‘The accused informed her that the contract was a legally binding contract and if she breached the contract she could be criminally charged in a court.
‘The accused informed the victim if she did not comply with the contract and the protocols there would be ramifications which he would document.’
Davis was supported by five of his girlfriends inside Armidale Local Court on Wednesday. His barrister said the women were in consensual relationships with Davis and free to come and go. They are pictured outside the court
Davis allegedly punched the woman in the face and knocked her to the ground when she broke on of the protocols by sitting on a couch without seeking permission.
He allegedly told the woman she was ‘worthless’, ‘broken’ and useless each time she broke the rules.
‘The accused made the victim repeat over and over, “I am worthless” or “I am broken”,’ the statement of facts said.
Once the victim was his slave Davis allegedly replaced her ‘submissive collar’ with a ‘slave collar’ and said she could give the old device to a woman of her choosing.
The victim was allegedly forced to ask Davis for permission to perform everyday activities, including going to the toilet.
‘If she could not get hold of the accused, she was not allowed to go to the toilet until she had sought his permission,’ the statement of facts said.
‘If the victim did not seek permission she would be severely punished.’
Davis allegedly forced a woman to have a slave number tattooed on her body. ‘The victim recalls the slave number started with S/N 95, followed by a unique number,’ police allege
Australian Federal Police are pictured at the moment Davis was arrested by officers outside the Bunnings hardware store in Armidale, northern New South Wales, on March 11
One of the punishments was allegedly being hit with a cane until she bled, which had led to permanent scarring.
‘The victim stated to the accused that she feared and hated the cane and as a result the victim stated that the accused regularly chose this as his method of assaulting her,’ according to the statement of facts.
‘On one occasion the accused struck the victim 29 times with the cane and the victim felt extreme pain where she had been struck for days.’
The woman allegedly had to be naked at the front door when Davis returned home and remove his shoes so she could kiss his feet.
Police will allege Davis choked the woman to the point of unconsciousness multiple times and locked her in a cage for two nights and three days in a row.
‘While the victim was in the cage he would assault her by repeatedly ramming a pole through the bars of the cage and into the victim,’ the statement of facts said.
In 2014 the couple moved to Emerald in Queensland where Davis worked as a security guard for a strip club and the woman worked as the madam, without being paid.
‘At this time the accused informed the victim she was to registered on an on-line slave register,’ the statement of facts said.
The Australian Federal Police raided the sprawling rural property of James-Robert Davis about 30km outside Armidale, northern New South Wales, last Thursday
‘The accused forced the victim to have her slave number tattooed on her body. The victim recalls the slave number started with S/N 95, followed by a unique number.’
While living in Emerald Davis allegedly punched the woman in the face then stomped on her inner right thigh with his boot when she fell backwards.
‘The accused had previously told the victim to be proud of her bruises as it was a sign of the abuse she “could take”,’ the statement of facts said.
On another occasion Davis allegedly grabbed the woman by the throat and pushed her against a wall with her feet off the ground. he then allegedly headbutted her.
‘She did not report the assault to the police on this occasion as she believed that the accused would get in trouble and she would potentially ruin his life,’ the statement of facts said.
Davis is also accused of coercing the a woman into prostitution without payment when the pair moved back to Sydney in 2015 and the woman began work in a Surry Hills brothel.
Police allege Davis told the woman she had to work as a prostitute because neither had a a job and they had no money.
‘The AFP further alleges the victim at this stage had lost all normal autonomy as a functioning member of society and was solely reliant on the accused’s ownership of her as her “master”,’ the statement of facts said.
The woman worked at the brothel six nights a week and was paid cash which Davis allegedly collected from her each morning.
In 2015 the woman escaped and moved into share accommodation.
The 40-year-old has shown his BDSM lifestyle at his home dubbed ‘The House of Cadifor’
Four large wooden sandboxes with women’s names engraved on the side are pictured on Davis’s property. It has not been explained what the boxes were used for
The allegations against Davis do not relate to any of the women with whom he lives outside Armidale in an arrangement that has been described as a cult.
His barrister told magistrate Vivien Swain on Wednesday the charges against his client which related to the woman he lived with at Maroubra and Emerald would be be defended.
‘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.’
Mr Lloyd pointed to Davis’s five girlfriends sitting in the back of the court room – including two who are university students and one who is 17 weeks pregnant – and claimed they all had ‘no fear about their wellbeing’.
The women were all in a consensual polyamorous relationship with Davis, Mr Lloyd told the court, and they each had a car and bank accounts in their name.
‘Each of these women – if they’re a slave – has had the opportunity to run away; they have not done so,’ Mr Lloyd told the court.
The AFP prosecutor told the court much of the case information came from videos Davis posted online and allegations aired by the ABC, including the use of a cage.
Mr Lloyd told the court any cage Davis had used with the woman could be easily unlocked and had no bottom, adding it was a form of ‘affection’.
Davis allegedly constructed a dungeon with an A-frame in his basement as part of his polyamorous lifestyle. He will defending charges of engaging in sexual slavery
Pictures provide a glimpse inside the ‘The House of Cadifor’, where Davis refers to himself as the patriarch, police allege
Davis had in 2018 featured in the television series ‘Cadifor: A story about love, family and slavery’. He has described himself as a ‘rope performer, fetish photographer, BDSM writer, kink educator, lifestyle dominant and consent advocate’.
The AFP alleges Davis referred to himself as the patriarch of a group known as the ‘House of Cadifor’.
Davis – a 17-year veteran of the Australian Defence Force – was arrested outside the Armidale Bunnings on Thursday after the AFP spent 15 hours raiding his sprawling rural property at Yarrowyck, about 30km outside of Armidale.
More than 50 AFP investigators and forensic specialists spent last week searching Davis’ Yarrowyck property and seized phones, cameras and computers.
Images released by the AFP after the raid show the property is dotted with several wooden huts located several hundred metres away from the main home, featuring single beds, no air-conditioning and curtains that do little to keep out the light.
Four large wooden sandboxes engraved with women’s names were pictured on the property, along with a shed complete with a barber’s chair and boxes filled with whips, collars and other sex instruments.
Magistrate Vivien Swain refused Davis bail. He will next appear in a Sydney court in May.