A cult leader and his wife have been found not to have groomed a young girl, despite a finding that he was sexually interested in her.
William Kamm, also known as "Little Pebble", was the leader of the Order of Saint Charbel, a religious cult run from a NSW south coast property.
The 76-year-old was seen as a seer by members of his order and spoke of his desire to repopulate the world with 12 wives - or "queens".
However, he and his 60-year-old wife Sandra Susan Mathison were found not guilty on Thursday of grooming a young girl from the age of six to become one of his queens.
The pair were cleared by District Court Judge Nicole Noman of jointly grooming the young girl with phone calls and gifts between 2010 and 2020 while she was aged between six and 16.
Kamm was also denied inciting the girl to commit an indecent act and twice breaching his extended supervision orders by contacting her.
Judge Noman found Kamm's teachings extended far beyond mainstream Catholic belief but there was not enough evidence to prove he had tried to groom the girl for unlawful sexual activity.
"(Kamm) evidently had a sexual interest in the complainant," Judge Noman said.
But evidence of Kamm and Mathison grooming the girl for sexual activity before she turned 16 was "deficient", the judge found.
The likelihood of Kamm being able to act on any sexual interest was impossible in the early years of the relationship with the complainant because he was in prison, the judge said.
The 76-year-old was found to not be aware of a lack of consent during an incident where he and the girl conducted mutual masturbation over the phone.
Barristers for the pair attacked inconsistencies in the complainant's evidence during the trial, including memories of a prison phone call not backed up by the recording.
Despite acquitting the pair, Judge Noman said the complainant was a reliable witness.
"She appeared to be doing her best to respond truthfully and accurately," the judge said.
"Not all inconsistencies are problematic."
Kamm was convicted in 2005 and 2007 of multiple sexual offences against girls under the age of 16.
