Alleged sex-cult leader James-Robert Davis jailed over domestic violence offences against woman he 'enslaved'

A New South Wales man accused of running a sex cult where women were allegedly kept as slaves has been sentenced to 25 months imprisonment for assaulting a former partner and another woman.

James-Robert Davis appeared via audio-visual link in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday after last month being found guilty of seven offences, including assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Davis was arrested in March 2021 after a Four Corners investigation in which multiple women told the ABC that Davis had sexually or physically abused them.

In sentencing remarks, Magistrate Clare Farnan described Davis's course of conduct as "a serious type of domestic violence because the offending had become normalised within a relationship".

Warning: This story contains descriptions of extreme violence and sexual abuse that may disturb some readers.

In 2021, Felicity Bourke told Four Corners she was subjected to months of psychological manipulation, coercive control and repeated physical and sexual violence perpetrated by her former partner, James-Robert Davis.

Felicity described how she was told to sign a contract that would make her a "slave", was forced to wear a collar, and was tattooed with a number as part of what was pitched to her as a form of sexual role-play known as BDSM.

At the time, Davis claimed that activity was consensual.

In court, Magistrate Farnan found that the situation was properly characterised as one of domestic violence and the actions of Davis constituted a serious breach of the trust involved in this relationship.

The court accepted that one count of assault involved Davis slapping Felicity so hard that it resulted in a burst eardrum.

Magistrate Farnan remarked that "while the complainant remained in a relationship with [Davis] he had been allowed to act unlawfully because of the normalisation [of domestic violence] within the relationship".

Another count of common assault involved Davis caning Felicity so hard that it left welts, which he claimed was consensual. The magistrate said that due to the nature of the relationship, it was difficult for Felicity to decline to consent to that type of activity.

Davis's actions towards Felicity were "particularly concerning" because the power imbalance in the relationship "left [her] with little recourse", the magistrate added.

Trail of destruction

Speaking to Four Corners in 2021, Felicity explained it took her years to realise she was a victim because of the extent of the psychological manipulation she was subjected to, but felt compelled to speak out about Davis.

"He is not the ultimate, that he's not a God, that he cannot walk through this life doing as he pleases to women and getting away with it," she said.

Prior to his arrest, Four Corners confirmed multiple complaints had been made about Davis to state and federal authorities, but he continued to act with impunity for years, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Felicity told Four Corners at the time that she hoped sharing the abuse she endured would help other women facing the same fate.

"I always have thought about how those other girls feel and when you're in that position, all your power is taken away from you. And, it's really hard to get out," she said.

"Having the opportunity to be able to talk about my experiences could potentially help other girls in that situation to be able to escape."

Magistrate Farnan acknowledged that being subjected to cross-examination during the case was particularly distressing for Felicity.

Davis's legal defence submitted two letters in support of his character as well as medical reports detailing his diagnoses with PTSD, major depressive disorder and at one time an alcohol disorder.

A third character reference letter was withdrawn at the last moment, after the court refused to grant a non-publication order to suppress the author's identity.

The person in question was concerned about being publicly associated with Davis as a result of providing a character reference to the court.

None of the women who he previously referred to as his wives or slaves wrote character references or letters of support.

The Crown submitted that there was no evidence before the court that established a causal connection between medical conditions like PTSD and the offences Davis had been found guilty of and that the diagnoses had been made some time after the dates of the offending.

The court accepted that Davis was being treated for the conditions he had been diagnosed for but was not able to assess if that made it less likely that he would reoffend.

Magistrate Farnan also found that because Davis continued to deny the offences, there was no discount to be applied on sentencing on account of a lack of any remorse.

"It's difficult to assess prospects of rehabilitation when an offender continues to deny offences they have been found guilty of," the magistrate said.

Initial charges dropped

After Four Corners' investigation aired in March 2021, police dramatically raided a rural property in New South Wales where a number of women who Davis called his "wives" were living with him.

The AFP spent more than two days scouring Davis's property at Yarrowyck, near Armidale, for evidence and allegedly confiscated weapons, ammunition, filming equipment and hard drives that were forensically analysed.

Davis was initially charged with federal slavery offences that were later dropped by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and replaced with a raft of state charges.

Davis's sentencing comes after years of legal wrangling and an almost three-week trial.

The court accepted that Davis had effectively already served the entire term of his imprisonment. Magistrate Farnan also acknowledged the onerous nature of parts of Davis's time in custody, which included various periods of solitary confinement and also strict original bail conditions that meant effective home detention with electronic monitoring.

For now, Davis remains in custody and will be sentenced in November in the District Court on separate charges.

In April this year, he was also rearrested while on bail on charges of intentionally sexually touching a child.

He is expected to return to court next month on those charges and an apprehended domestic violence order matter.