A man who lured a 12-year-old mentally disabled boy home with drugs to film how his wife sexually assaulted the boy for five years blames her for the abuse.
Paul Bamforth, 50, claims he was unemployed, on massive amounts of drugs and subservient to his wife Julia Bamforth, 49, who was the dominant party in the relationship, and claims he was simply obeying her sick desires, a court has heard.
In extraordinary evidence for a sentencing hearing, the NSW District Court heard on Friday that Bamforth was not necessarily “inherently sexually deviant” for filming the child abused by his wife in their home for more than five years.
Forensic psychologist Christopher Lennings said it could be that his wife was “promoting that sexual deviance” and that Bamforth was simply complying with her wishes and was “confused and ambivalent” about admitting to the vile sex crimes.
Both Julia and Paul Bamforth have pleaded guilty to 146 charges in connection with the horrific ongoing sexual abuse of the young boy on the NSW Central Coast from 2015 to February 26, 2021, when police raided their home in Narara.
Paul Bamforth has tried to downplay his role in the vicious sexual abuse of a cognitively disabled boy
Dr. Lennings said the abuse was “a situation where he was pleasing his wife,” and that although he watched “regular” pornography, he did not watch child pornography and “didn’t like animal porn.”
But Bamforth had cataloged and titled a huge number of videos that he filmed of his wife having sex with the boy they gave him drugs, including methamphetamine, cruelly calling him “the ret***.”
At the time they assaulted the boy – who had been diagnosed with cognitive disability – Paul Bamforth was taking up to 640mg a day of Oxycontin plus the drug ice.
“He was using Viagra and other drugs to improve his sex drive. Part of what he saw was his relationship with Julia,” Dr Lennings said.
Videos filmed by the pedophile couple document the sexual abuse from when the victim was about 12 years old, but the victim told police the sexual abuse began when he was just seven years old.
“He had a decreasing sex drive, he needed extra stuff, an escalation of deviant behavior to perform sexually. Mr. Bamforth’s case… was fueled by a great deal of fear.
“This was a man who (had) no sense of autonomy over his behavior.”
“He turned out to be quite a dependent type of person, with his problems with drugs. He kept doing it because his wife enjoyed it.’
Julia Ann Bamforth (above) and husband Paul Bamforth have pleaded guilty to nearly 150 counts of persistent child sexual abuse of a cognitively impaired boy
The court heard the young boy say in a police interrogation, “I didn’t want to, but I had to. I used to get free weed, free ice cream, free MDMA (Paul), for… to root his wife.”
But prosecutors alleged that Bamford was a liar and equally guilty of bringing in the neurodivergent child with the promise of drugs to sexually assault him and filming the exploitation for the sexual gratification of both his wife and his wife.
Heard at Friday’s hearing that Paul Bamforth had tried to minimize his role in the abuse with Julia Bamforth’s attorney, John O’Sullivan, telling the hearing that “even if it was his wife’s idea initially, this course of action continued for many years’.
District Court Judge David Wilson SC said towards the end of Friday’s hearing that he disagreed that Paul Bamforth acted under the strong influence of his wife’s desires.
“I don’t intend to find him because he was dominated by his wife,” Your Honor said.
“It seems to me that they influenced and depended on each other and neither played a more dominant role.”
Paul Bamforth has tried to blame his gross sexual deviation on his wife, who he says pushed him to lure an autistic boy into their home so she could satisfy her sick fantasies.
Court documents show that the Bamforths knew the child had been diagnosed with cognitive disabilities and numerous texts between the accomplices revealed the sexual satisfaction they received from molesting the prepubescent victim.
In one of the messages to her husband, Julia wrote that she wanted to get pregnant with the “ugly little ret***” so they could “molest the child or children.”
In notes on Paul’s phone, Julia reiterated her wish to bear a child who could be sexually abused by the couple from a young age.
The court documents show there were about 300 notes of a similar nature – some up to 2,500 words long – discussing the couple’s desire to have sex with young children.
In one of the posts highlighted by police, Julia and Paul reveal a fantasy of taking in homeless or needy children who would then sexually abuse them.
Court documents show they lured the boy into their home with drugs to satisfy their own sick sexual desires
Seven hard drives were found hidden in a shoe box in a closet and taped to the underside of the bedside table, according to the agreed facts.
According to the court documents, the couple even discussed kidnapping children to satisfy their desires.
The Bamforths’ years of brutality to the victim was documented on home video revealed when police raided their home in Narara on February 26, 2021.
The hard drives contained more than 90 videos of the couple engaging in sexual acts with the victim from a time when he was estimated to be between 10 and 13 years old.
One of the videos shows Julia performing oral sex on the victim when he was about 12 while asleep and oblivious, according to court records.
The pair then videotaped themselves engaging in sexual acts with the boy, according to court documents
In some of the videos, Paul can be heard instructing and encouraging sexual acts between his wife and the victim as he films the abuse.
The Bamforths can also be seen giving the victim illegal drugs, including an ice pipe, in multiple videos described in the court documents.
Police note in a video showing the victim having sex with Julia that he appeared to be “heavily under the influence of drugs.”
The police seized a zombie sword from the Bamforths’ home in Narara. Photo: NSW Police
Officers also discovered a large number of drugs in Narara’s house. Photo: NSW Police
When the victim was 16 years old, the Bamforths were arrested and the sexual abuse stopped.
A few days before their arrest, the victim told two friends about the ongoing abuse and called Paul a “paedophile.”
Paul arranged for the victim to be taken to the Bamforths’ home, where he was then beaten bloody.
According to the court documents, he was kicked and punched several times and forced to strip naked before being put in the trunk of a car.
The victim told police he overheard his attackers talking about taking him to a lookout point nearby, but he managed to escape when the car stopped at some traffic lights.
Julia was not charged with involvement in the kidnapping.
A police raid revealed a stash of weapons in the Bamforths’ home
The police also seized a large amount of money.
Julia admitted to a whopping 78 offenses related to the sickening sexual abuse of children, while Paul pleaded guilty to 68 charges.
Both were charged with more than 20 counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child, as well as numerous allegations of aggravated assault on a victim with cognitive impairment, and using a child to produce child sexual abuse material.
A separate sentencing hearing on Julia Bamforth will be held. Paul Bamforth’s sentencing is then set for July 21 in Gosford District Court.
