Eight people have been arrested in a police sting tackling an alleged 'incest farm' in Australia, which is said to involve a family of up to 40 inbred people.
Members of the Colt family – a pseudonym – were arrested last week following a years-long probe into the group, believed to have originated in New Zealand with brother and sister couple Tim and June Colt in the mid-1960s. Decades later, around 38 members of the Colts were found living in tents and shacks in a farm in New South Wales in 2012.
Family matriarch Betty – thought to be Tim and June's offspring – is alleged to have conceived 12 children with her brother Charlie. Following the police raid 11 years ago the clan is believed to have spread itself over various Australian states, the Mirror reports.
However, New South Wales cops successfully bargained for the extradition of all of the suspects across state lines, and eight people aged between 29 and 50 were arrested following a series of nationwide raids. Six have appeared in court.
It marks a significant step in the Aussie investigation into the Colt family which began in July 2012 when a child reported overhearing stories of a girl living in the woods who was pregnant with a child fathered by her brother. Complex investigations including DNA testing, legal issues and the gravity of the allegations meant it took years for the charges to be established.
And the size of the Colt family, almost 40 members strong across grandparents, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, aunts and uncles, nephews and siblings, all of whom are alleged to have engaged in incest. It sparked the creation of Strike Force Hermoyne – a dedicated taskforce investigating the family's farm and allegations of child sexual assault and neglect.
Local news reports suggest that eleven of the children in the camp were the product of a sexual relationship between their mothers and a close male relative. It has been suggested that many of the children suffered from deformities and medical problems.
A dozen of the children are said to have facial deformities, speech difficulties and hygiene issues – and were illiterate and malnourished. All but one of the children, who are said to have slept next to buckets of human waste, were inbred.
Officers involved in the early investigations put several children in foster care – before discovering their alleged grim origins. Family members were found living in squalid sheds, tents and caravans, where children did not know how to use the toilet.
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