Sex, lies and videotapes

South Coast Register (Australia)/August 6, 2003
By Glenn Ellard

A woman claimed her parents not only allowed her to have sex with controversial religious leader William "Little Pebble" Kamm when she was just 14, but "my mum pushed me into it."

"My mother is the one that forced me," said the 23-year-old who spent much of her life as one of Kamm's followers.

And refusing to have sex with the founder of the Order of St Charbel and its religious community at West Cambewarra meant threats would be made, she told Nowra Local Court yesterday.

"I would get letters saying that if I didn't do what God said, something bad would happen," the woman told a committal hearing into sex charges laid against Kamm.

"I'd get sick, or I'd die."

She said she was also threatened with Kamm taking her son away if she revealed details of their previous sexual dealings.

In addition, "there were threats when he said something might happen to me or my son."

The woman claimed Kamm started touching her sexually from the time she was 13, and first took her to a Figtree motel for sex from the time she was just 14 for what became regular sex sessions.

The former member of Kamm's religious community said complaints about Kamm's behaviour were ignored by her family members, who like her all believed Kamm was "from God."

Much of the cross-examination of the woman focussed on an interview given to television program Today Tonight, and a letter sent by the woman and her defacto demanding money from Kamm or the full details of their sexual dealings would be revealed.

Written before a complaint was made to police, the letter demanded a cash cheque of $21,000, along with $100 per week maintenance for the woman's son, who she claimed was fathered by Kamm.

Vigorous cross-examination by defence barrister Greg Stanton revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies within the letter.

Inaccuracies included a claim that there was DNA evidence available proving Kamm's paternity of the child, and that there was additional evidence at hand.

A secretly taped discussion between the defacto and Kamm also pointed to an attempted setup of Kamm.

"You and (the defacto) set out to extract money from Mr Kamm, for the maintenance of your child, for support," Mr Stanton said to the woman.

"Yes," she replied.

"And you were happy to use lies and deception to achieve that end, weren't you?" he asked.

Again she answered yes.

The woman told the court she had taken hair from Kamm's comb without his permission, and provided it along with her own hair and her child's hair to 60 Minutes for DNA testing. However 60 Minutes rejected covering the issue, leading to the approach to Today Tonight, and an interview that has never been broadcast in NSW.

The committal hearing into four counts each of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault on a child aged under 16, and one of inciting a child under the age of 16 to commit an act of indecency, which started in April, continues today.