William Kamm, 76, a doomsday cult leader who calls himself Little Pebble, and his wife Sandra Susan Mathison, 60, were acquitted of all charges on Thursday following a judge-alone trial at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court, where both had faced allegations of grooming a seven-year-old girl for more than a decade.
Doomsday cult leader William Kamm acquitted of child grooming charges
William Kamm, 76, a doomsday cult leader who calls himself Little Pebble, and his wife Sandra Susan Mathison, 60, were acquitted of all charges on Thursday following a judge-alone trial at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court, where both had faced allegations of grooming a seven-year-old girl for more than a decade.
Kamm and Mathison were each charged with grooming a child for unlawful sexual activity and grooming a child under 14 for unlawful sexual activity. Kamm faced two additional charges of breaching an extended supervision order and inciting a person to perform a sexual act with him in circumstances of aggravation. He was cleared of those counts as well.
Judge Nicole Noman handed down her verdict after a five-week trial during which evidence was heard from the complainant, her relatives, corrections officers, and police.
Judge Noman accepted that Kamm and Mathison had a plan for the complainant to become Kamm's spouse, but found the evidence was not strong enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this was intended to occur before the complainant turned 16.
Kamm said 'God bless the judge' outside the court following the verdict.
Kamm, a convicted paedophile, has a compound known as the Order of St Charbel in Bangalee on the New South Wales South Coast. Court orders stemming from prior offending against a young girl have restricted him from returning there for a number of years.
- The source does not include any statement from Sandra Susan Mathison following the verdict.
- The source does not include any statement from the complainant or her relatives regarding the outcome.
- The source does not specify the nature of the prior offending that led to Kamm's existing court orders restricting his access to the Bangalee compound.
- The source does not state how long the extended supervision order has been in place or when it is due to expire.
- The source does not include a response from prosecutors regarding the acquittal.
Read the original at ABC News Australia