Pitcairn postmaster admits sex charges

The prosecution in the cases of seven Pitcairn men accused of a catalogue of sexual offences against young girls on the island scored a significant victory yesterday when one of the defendants changed his plea to guilty.

Dennis Christian, the island postmaster and a descendant of the mutineer Fletcher Christian, admitted carrying out three sexual assaults against two girls aged as young as 12 between the early 1970s and early 1980s. Two of the charges were samples representing a prolonged pattern of abuse.

Christian, 49, now faces the possibility of being jailed in the prison constructed on the island by the British Government in case of convictions in the seven separate trials.

He was remanded on bail by Judge Russell Johnson, one of three New Zealand judges trying the men without juries, and will be sentenced at the end of the remaining hearings. One charge against him was dropped.

Christian, wearing an HMS Bounty T-shirt, left court with Brenda Christian, his distant cousin and the island’s local police officer.

Simon Moore, the chief prosecutor in the trials, said he was pleased that Christian’s victims had at least been spared the distress of giving evidence against him. A total of nine women, now living in different parts of the world, had been due to testify via satellite video link from Auckland.

Det Insp Rob Vinson of Kent police, one of the leaders of the Pitcairn investigation, said of the guilty plea: “It is a significant development. Hopefully, it will lead to some acceptance on the island of things that have taken place.

“It will be a relief for the victims who will now not be required to give evidence in this case. I have only the greatest admiration for their bravery and courage.”