A woman who became the youngest person to join Charles Manson’s cult, aged 14, has described how he captivated and controlled female members of his group and how he “had sex” with her hours after they first met.

In a graphic memoir, Dianne Lake, now 64, said her first encounter with Manson who was 33 at the time was “tender”.

In California the age of consent has been 18-years-old since 1913 and Manson’s alleged actions amount to statutory rape.

Ms Lake later testified against Manson in court following the two-day murder spree that left seven people dead, but she said Manson was “attractive and loving” the first time she met him.

In an excerpt from Ms Lake’s new book published by The New York Post this week, she wrote: “He took his time to explore my body. He avoided the places that made me purr until I could barely stand it.”

“After a few minutes, he put himself inside me while staring into my eyes. He was tender as he held me up to meet his deep thrusts. When he finished, he sighed; I exhaled and realized I was hooked.”

Though she was 14, she did not live with her parents, who lived in a commune and met Manson before their daughter did.

But she previously told People that she fell into the cult after being abandoned by her parents.

“I needed love and affection, and I needed a family. I needed to feel like I belonged somewhere,” she said. “He perceived that from the get-go.”

In an interview this week with Good Morning America, Ms Lake said: “Yes, there were other girls, but we all shared him. He made you feel really special, and specially loved.”

“It seemed very natural and loving and kind of like a game,” she said, speaking about the sexual contact between Manson and the members of the group.

“He would start with the hands... and that would lead into more intimate things.

“He was cute, impish. You know, fun.”

After Manson instructed cult members to murder Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Steven Parent, Jay Sebring and Sharon Tate, Ms Lake escaped the group.

She did not play any role in the murders, but heard first-hand accounts of how they were carried out by other “family members”.

When she went on to face Manson in court, his defense lawyer asked her: “Are you still in love with Mr Manson now?” She replied: “I guess so”, to which Manson shouted out: “You loved everybody. Don't put it all on Mr Manson.”

The court room reportedly burst into laughter at Manson's interjection.

In her book, Ms Lake wrote: “I hadn't seen it before, how he could truly work a room. This man didn't mean to be funny... he was deflecting responsibility from himself by humiliating me and dismissing my value as a human being.”

She said it was at that point she realised he was just “a scruffy little man with an enormous ego”.

Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Show all 10 1 /10 Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I'm nobody. I'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo. I'm a boxcar and a jug of wine, and a straight razor if you get too close to me." - Interview, 1989 Getty Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "Maybe I should have killed four, five hundred people. Then I would have felt better. Then I would have felt like I really offered society something." - NBC interview with Heidi Schulman, 1987 Granger/REX Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "Do you feel blame? Are you mad? Uh, do you feel like wolf kabob Roth vantage? Gefrannis booj pooch boo jujube; bear-ramage. Jigiji geeji geeja geeble Google. Begep flagaggle vaggle veditch-waggle bagga?" - NBC interview with Heidi Schulman, 1987 Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I've been 15 years in the nut ward, for trying to stop the trees from being cut down, from trying to rearrange the lifestyle of a bunch of people who don't want to change. But they're gonna change because a cold wind is blowing. You're gonna change or else there's going to be no life left on the planet Earth." - Interview with Penny Daniels in San Quentin Prison, California, 1989 Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "We use the word God. God hooks all the other words up. I'm the pope. I'm ten times the pope. I'm sixty times the pope. But I'm the pope in the hills and in the mountains." - Interview by Penny Daniels, 1989 Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Will of God.. whatever you wanna call it.. you call it Jesus, call it Mohammed, call it goobybob, call it nuclear mind, call it blow the world up, call it your heart. Whatever you wanna call it, it's still music to me. It's there. It's the will of life. - Interview with Geraldo Rivera (1981) Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Believe me, if I started murdering people, there'd be none of you left. - Interview, Rolling Stone (1970) Getty Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy. - Interview by Diane Sawyer (1994) AP Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy. - Interview by Diane Sawyer (1994) AP Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I was so smart when I was a kid that I learnt that I was dumb fast." - Interview on the album 'All the Way Alive' (2003) Rex

When the trial was over, first-degree murder convictions were returned against Manson and Ms Lake was eventually able to move on with her life, marrying, raising three children and earning a master’s degree in education.

Now she is sharing her story of survival.

“I think the biggest burden was keeping it a secret,” Lake says. “I survived and prevailed during this dark time.”