Pitcairn mayor among seven sex abuse defendants

The mayor of tiny Pitcairn Island – home to the descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers – is among seven men accused in a string of sexual assaults in the isolated community dating back decades, court documents revealed today.

Steve Christian, one of the island’s most prominent members, is charged along with his son Randy and five other men, on 55 charges, including rape, indecent assault and gross indecency.

The court decided to reveal the identities of the accused because everyone on the island, with a population of just 47, already knew who they were and because newspapers and internet sites outside Pitcairn’s jurisdiction already had published the names, Charles Blackie, the chief justice in the trial, said.

The names were unveiled as the court rejected an 11th-hour application by the defence to halt the trials because of alleged judicial bias.

The defence had earlier said the lead judge sent to hear the case on the remote Pacific island had shown bias by bowing to pressure from Britain’s minister for overseas territories to press for a trial and avoid any out-of-court settlement.

It was the latest legal challenge to the trial of the men – who account for half the island’s adult male population – over allegations of sex abuse dating back up to 40 years.

Blackie, one of three judges overseeing the trial, declined the defence application and said the trial would commence tomorrow morning.

The charges against the men stem from 1999 when an islander told a visiting British policewoman she had been sexually abused.

Since then, new laws including a child protection act have been enacted and police and social workers have been sent to the island.

The defendants could be sentenced to lengthy prison terms if convicted in the trials expected to last up to six weeks.

The size and complexity of the case is unprecedented on Pitcairn Island, where descendants of the mutineers on the British navy ship HMS Bounty arrived in 1790. The inhabitants eke out a living by selling postage stamps to collectors and handicrafts to tourists on passing cruise liners.

The arrival of three judges, prosecutors, defence attorneys and media has almost doubled the island’s population.

On Tuesday, a group of women residents on the island came to the defence of the seven charged men at a meeting, claiming the cases had been blown out of proportion and that the victims may have been coerced into testifying.

But prosecution witnesses are expected to testify via video links from New Zealand, home to many people who have fled the isolated community.

Speaking to reporters on the island, some of the women said underage sex was normal in the community.

“There’s never been a rape on the island,” said one resident, Carol Warren, on New Zealand television today. “I was one of them, I had sex at 12. I went in fully knowing what I was doing and I wasn’t forced.”

“It’s like a blight that’s been hanging over us for way too long,” said Meralda Warren, another female resident.

The defendants had a chance to head off trials at a pre-trial hearing last week, but refused to plead guilty when offered the chance – a move that would have cut any sentence they may face.

Some islanders argue that if the men are convicted, the tiny community will lose its ability to crew longboats that bring essential supplies to the island - threatening the population’s existence.

At earlier hearings, suspects’ lawyers argued the inhabitants of Pitcairn long ago severed their ties with Britain by burning the boat that carried them to their isolated island after the Bounty mutiny. That argument was rejected, allowing the trials to go ahead.

The Pitcairn Islands are a group of five rocky volcanic outcrops – only the largest of which is inhabited – with a combined area of just 18 square miles. They are 9,250 miles from London.

Just getting to the island, which has no port or landing strip for aircraft, is a major challenge. Once on the island, people get around using four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles on dirt tracks.