Pitcairn mayor stands trial for abuse

The mayor of tiny Pitcairn Island – home to the descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers – yesterday became the first of seven island men to stand trial for sex abuse, in a case that has split the isolated community.

Steve Christian appeared in the specially-built courtroom to face six charges of rape and four charges of indecent assault on four women over the period from 1964-75.

The women he allegedly attacked were to give evidence via a special video link from the northern New Zealand city of Auckland, more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) to the west.

The cases appear certain to lift the lid on the sexual habits of a tiny community of fewer than 50 people, who eke out an existence on the island midway between New Zealand and Peru that has no port or airstrip.

British prosecutors working in a court complex on the island staffed almost exclusively by New Zealanders have charged seven men with a total of 55 sex attacks.

Later yesterday the cases of two other men were expected to open -- Len Brown, the oldest defendant at 78, and his son, Dave.

Len Brown faces two charges of raping one woman, and his son faces 15 charges relating to five women. These charges date back to 1969.

Further details of the allegations were not immediately available.

The cases are expected to last six weeks, with prosecutors running two court rooms simultaneously.

The trials opened yesterday after an 11-hour application by the defence to halt the trials because of alleged judicial bias was rejected Tuesday.

Investigations into the sex attacks were launched in 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.

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 survive by subsistence farming and 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, claiming the cases had been blown out of proportion and that the victims may have been coerced into testifying.

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 Wednesday. “I was one of them, I had sex at 12. I went in fully knowing what I was doing and I wasn’t forced.”

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 reduced 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.

The Pitcairn Islands are a group of five rocky volcanic outcrops – only the largest of which is inhabited – with a combined area of just 47 square kilometres (18 square miles). They are 14,885 kilometres (9,250 miles) from London.