'Evil' satanic sex cult leader faces life sentence

12 April 2012

An "evil" sex cult leader who preyed on children and forced women into prostitution could be jailed for life today.

Colin Batley, 48, and three female cult members were found guilty by a jury of several dozen sex offences this week.

Batley was the self-styled high priest of the cult which he ran from a series of quiet homes in a cul-de-sac in Kidwelly, west Wales.

A Swansea Crown Court jury found him guilty of all but one of the 36 offences he had vehemently denied during a five-week trial.

Female followers Elaine Batley, 47, Jacqueline Marling, 42, and Shelly Millar, 35, were collectively found guilty of a further dozen sex offences.

Batley and other cult members moved from London to Wales in the 1990s and eventually settled in the unsuspecting seaside town.

Their shocking sexual antics, mixed in with satanic rites, continued for years under the noses of unsuspecting locals.

All four are expected to be jailed for extended periods today when they are sentenced in Swansea by trial judge Paul Thomas.

Cult leader Batley could be jailed for life after being found guilty of 11 separate rapes, six offences of buggery and an array of other sex crimes.

Vincent Barden, 70, of Kempston, Bedfordshire, will also be sentenced on two counts of sexual assault on an under age girl.

Barden, who was not a cult member, was cleared of a joint rape charge with Batley, who was also cleared.

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