Cult leader Little Pebble wants to return to Nowra 'holy land'

Mercury News, Australia/February 28, 2019

By Perry Duffin

Cult leader William "Little Pebble" Kamm wants a court to consider letting him return to his Nowra "holy" land or remove his ankle monitor after having a stroke.

The convicted child sex offender, who now calls himself William Costellia, founded the Order of Saint Charbel near Nowra in the 1980s and preached a doomsday Christian message.

His followers handed over wives and daughters to help him rebuild humanity after the apocalypse and he has reportedly fathered more than 20 children.

He spent nine years in jail for having sex with two teenage girls before being paroled in November 2014.

In 2016 he submitted to release conditions that include wearing electronic monitoring equipment, telling authorities his schedule in advance, living with his wife at a unit in Sydney, abiding by a 10pm curfew, remaining in NSW and staying away from teenage girls.

The release orders were expected to last until 2021 but, on Wednesday, Kamm appeared in the NSW Supreme Court alongside his legal team to resume his bid to have them varied.

His lawyers submitted an affidavit that describes the impact of the stroke he suffered in August 2018.

"I was personally, by my observation of the plaintiff, satisfied that he did not quite understand the effect of the evidence and general material filed in these proceedings," the statement penned by lawyer Omar Juweinat reads.

"Nor was I comfortably satisfied that he was in a position to give oral evidence himself or follow the course of proceedings."

Kamm sat calmly in the courtroom, holding his wife's hand in silence.

"He isn't the man I met a year ago or even six months ago," Kamm's barrister Mark Robinson SC told the court on Wednesday.

It's understood Kamm wants to be able to return to the Nowra property or, depending on the finding of doctors, may ask for the electronic monitoring bracelet to be taken off.

"The effect of proposed medical assessments may have an overall impact on the risk factors which the court must take into account in determining what ought to occur, if anything, to the Extended Supervision Order," Mr Juweinat said in a statement.

Kamm's legal team had the matter adjourned until May 6.

In that time he will be assessed by a neurologist then a psychiatrist, the court was told.

To see more documents/articles regarding this group/organization/subject click here.