Monster convicted of raping niece who was also his SISTER lifting lid on Australia’s 40-strong Colt ‘incest’ family

A MONSTER convicted of raping his niece who was also his half-sister has lifted the lid on Australia’s 40-strong Colt 'incest' family.

Frank Colt, 51, was arrested along with eight other members of his family after authorities discovered nearly 40 relatives living in squalid conditions in an outback bush camp.

Colt was today found guilty of the incestuous rape of his 17-year-old relative, two years after his arrest in April of 2018.

The 51-year-old attacked the teenager in the back seat of his car during a visit to the family farm in February 2010, the NSW District Court heard.

His victim - known by her pseudonym 'Petra' - was powerful, credible and "simply and matter-of-factly put", Judge Gina O'Rourke said.

The Judge added: "She did not try to gild the lily and attribute other acts to the accused".

BLOOD LINES

The trial heard she had told police back in 2013 that she had never gone to school, lived "in a cult" and that "all my aunts, uncles and cousins have all been sleeping together".

Colt remained silent throughout the investigation and trial as his barrister argued the rape had never happened.

But as the judge's verdict became clear, he began to tear up.

Colt, who has the same father as his victim, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing.

His victim is the daughter of Frank Colt's father Tim and sister Betty.

The two-day trial heard Colt didn't live at the farm but had visited sometime in February 2010.

His brother Charlie and nephew Cliff are due to face trial on other sexual assault allegations this week.

Tim Colt, the family patriarch, also fathered 12 other children to Betty and five children to his eldest daughter Rhonda as the family moved between rural Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory.

Tim Colt's youngest daughter had several children to her brother Charlie, the trial heard.

OUTBACK SQUALOR

Police discovered about 40 members of the family living in remote property described as an uninsulated shed, old caravans and tents on a NSW bush block in 2012.

The children were found sleeping in tents without running water, toilets or electricity and could not speak intelligible English.

In a statement during the trial, inspector Stephen Radford described smelling urine and faeces in living areas and said there were no toilets or showers on the "commune-style living arrangement".

A dozen children found on the property were placed into state care in 2013 by a children's court, which heard genetic evidence showed all but one of the children were the product of incest.

The family had managed to evade raising alarm bells with social services by moving from state to state, until locals noticed some of the kids didn't attend school.

Betty Colt, 51, her sisters Rhonda and Martha, brother Charlie, Rhonda's son Cliff and Betty's sons Derek and Roderick and daughter Raylene were detained after police swarmed their camp in Boorowa, New South Wales, last year.

Charlie Colt, 46, is accused of more than a dozens offences including six counts of sexual intercourse with a child under ten.

Martha Colt, 39, has been charged with perjury.

Derek Colt, 30, faces two charges of incest with a person under the age of 16 while Raylene Colt, 35, and 51-year-old Betty face perjury charges.

The Colt family originated in New Zealand with Tim and June marrying in the mid-1960s before emigrating to Australia. Betty is believed to be their child.

The clan spread to remote parts of Australia after the NSW farm was raided in 2012.