Mayor’s son at Pitcairn trial

THE son of the former mayor of the remote pacific island of Pitcairn appeared in court today charged with rape, the eighth islander to be prosecuted on a series of sexual assault charges dating back up to 40 years.

A Pitcairn Magistrate’s Court ban on identifying Shawn Christian, aged 29, who has lived in Australia since 1998, was lifted yesterday by a court in Auckland, New Zealand.

Christian’s father, former Pitcairn mayor, Steve Christian, and his brother Randy have already been convicted on rape and unlawful sex charges, but along with four other convicted offenders, are free on bail pending appeals.

Just 47 people live on Pitcairn, a mile wide and two miles long, and located halfway between New Zealand and Peru in the mid-Pacific.