Man who ran incest clan let children be raped for beer and cigarettes

William Goler, the head of an incest clan living in an isolated part of Canada, allowed his family members to have sex with children in exchange for beer and cigarettes.

The family used to live in a rural community in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada. They lived in shacks and tents in sub-human conditions. Twenty people were crammed into one house that did not even have running water.

The sickening crime came to light in 1984, when one of William's children opened up about the harrowing ordeal to a school teacher. One of his daughters, who was then 14-years-old, told her teacher that she was raped by her father at least 14 times a month.

"[I]f somebody wanted to have sex with one of his kids he would let them for a case of beer or a carton of cigarettes, or even a pack of cigarettes [...] They got to pick out whichever child they wanted to have sex with," a member of the family had said.

"We had nothing to say, we couldn't prevent it, we couldn't stop them. We were basically lined up against the wall and they chose the one they wanted and we were forced to do it," she added.

An investigation later revealed that the Goler clan had been practicing incest for more than 100 years. Several of them had also developed facial deformities and speech difficulties.

The court was informed that all of the family members had been abused sexually as children. And no one had any idea what was happening to them since it had been a way of life for the family for years.

Thirteen members of the family were later found guilty of 100 charges of incest, and additional sexual offences with children aged between six and 14. William Goler, his common law wife Wanda Wiston, and his brother Tom were amongst the convicted family members, per a report in The Mirror.