A mother who had her children taken away after authorities uncovered signs of incest and child sexual abuse at a squalid property in NSW has been found guilty of trying to get them out of state care.
Betty Colt, a pseudonym provided by the Children's Court, was one of 40 adults and children living in tents and caravans on a remote south-west NSW property in 2012.
Twelve children, many of whom were Colt's, were taken from the property and placed in out-of-home care after authorities uncovered signs of neglect and abuse among children.
Genetic testing revealed 11 of the 12 children, aged between five and 15, had parents that were related or closely related, according to a Children's Court judgment released last year.
Colt was later charged after allegedly trying to recruit her eldest son to kidnap her youngest son from state care.
She was also charged with trying to procure her sons out of state care.
In Moss Vale Local Court on Friday, where Colt appeared with the support of one of her daughters, Magistrate Mary Ryan found Colt guilty on all charges.
Ms Ryan said Colt was motivated by a desire to get even with community services for taking away her children.
She said Colt's relationship with her eldest son, Bobby, was "overbearing, immature and claustrophobic".
The court heard Colt gave Bobby a mobile phone without consent from community services while he was in out of home care last year.
Hundreds of phone calls were made between the two.
A plan was hatched for Bobby to leave his foster care in the Southern Highlands and meet his mother at a nearby garden.
There was also mention of Billy, the younger son, being part of the plan.
They would then go to South Australia, where other family members were living, the court heard.
Colt told Bobby he could leave state care when he turned 16 despite the Children's Court ordering the children remain in the care of the state until they were 18.
"It was consistently the boys that put it to her that they couldn't leave until they were 18," Ms Ryan said.
By encouraging her sons to leave, Colt had no regard for the Children's Court's findings, the magistrate said.
There were also appalling conditions to which Colt's children had been subjected on the rural property, Ms Ryan said.
The large group were living in decrepit tents and caravans, with the children having little hygiene skills - including not knowing how to brush their teeth - and little schooling experience.
Some children later told caseworkers they had sex with their siblings and relatives, according to the 2013 Children's Court judgment.
Ms Ryan said Colt's attempts to tell her sons they could flee when they were 16 years old was an "act of wilful blindness".
The getaway never came to fruition as the police turned up at the boys' home and took the mobile phone.
Colt was also arrested.
Colt left out the back door of the courthouse with her daughter and lawyer and did not talk to waiting media.
She will be sentenced in November.
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