Pitcairn islander admits sex crimes

A tractor driver pleaded guilty to sex crimes on Pitcairn Island, home to descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers, but he pleaded innocent to a further 12 charges.

Dave Brown, 49, admitted three charges of indecent assault at his trial on the remote British territory in the Pacific.

But Brown said he was in love and in a consensual relationship with another girl he was accused of indecently assaulting. He told the court that the girl said she enjoyed having sex and wanted to continue their intimate relationship.

Brown pleaded innocent to two charges of gross indecency and 10 remaining counts of indecent assault, alleged to have taken place around 20 years ago.

Since investigations into sex abuse on the island began three years ago, the alleged victim has withdrawn her complaint against Brown and prosecutors are basing their charges on a police interview in which the defendant admits having sex with her while she was underage.

Brown also denies sexually assaulting a five-year-old and her six-year-old friend.

Most of Pitcairn’s female residents have come out in defence of their men, insisting that underage sex was part of the island’s culture and that none of them were forced into it.

But prosecutors have alleged the island’s men treated women and girls like their harem.

Earlier this week Dennis Christian, a relative of the island’s mayor Steve Christian, admitted to indecently assaulting a 12-year-old girl in the early 1980s. The court suppressed details about the other two charges to which he pleaded guilty.

The trials, held under British law before New Zealand judges, are expected to take six weeks on this island that has a permanent population of just 47.

The Pitcairn Islands, midway between New Zealand and Peru, have a total land area of just 18 square miles. Only one island is inhabited.