Pitcairn prosecutions a 'set-up', says islander

Pitcairn islander Mike Warren has said he believed the prosecutions of a number of men from the island on sex abuse charges were a British “set-up”.

Six men were convicted of a string of sex attacks on the remote Pacific island, following trials that exposed a culture of sexual abuse of children on the tiny home of descendants of the 18th century Bounty mutineers.

“The verdicts today came as no surprise to the majority of the islanders,” said Mike Warren. “We have felt all along that this whole thing was a set up by the British authorities and no matter how well the defence argued the case they were fighting a losing battle.”

He added: “The majority of the community has been brought closer together as a result of the trials, lending support and encouragement to each other as never before.”

During the trials, prosecutors painted a picture of a male-dominated society in which underage sex and assaults on children as young as five was commonplace.

Among those convicted was the Pitcairn Island mayor, Steve Christian, who claims to be a direct descendant of mutiny leader Fletcher Christian. He was cleared of four indecent assaults and one rape but convicted of five other rapes of girls as young as 12.

Steve Christian’s son, Randy Christian, was convicted of four rapes and five indecent assaults but cleared of one rape and two indecent assaults.

Another man, Len Brown, 78, was convicted of two rapes. His son, Dave Brown, was convicted of nine indecent assaults and cleared of four indecent assaults and two charges of gross indecency.

Dennis Christian was convicted of one indecent assault and two sexual assaults he pleaded guilty to at trial.

Terry Young was convicted of one rape and six indecent assaults but cleared of one indecent assault.

Jay Warren, the island’s magistrate, was found innocent of indecent assault.

His wife, Carol Warren, reacted angrily despite her husband being cleared.

“His name’s been dragged through the mud,” she said. “The whole world now sees him as a child molester. My God, if they only knew him.”

Before the trials even started, women living on the island came out in defence of their men, saying that while underage sex did happen, it was consensual.

None of the victims of abuse still live on the island, and they all testified via a video link from the northern New Zealand city of Auckland.

A New Zealand police officer who told eight women who testified of the verdicts said they welcomed the outcome.

“They were all extremely relieved – as if a lifetime of emotional turmoil has been concluded,” police constable Karen Vaughan said. “Some were overwhelmed but on the whole they feel justice has been done.”

The convicted men could be sentenced to prison in the island’s newly built cell block. But they will continue to be free pending the outcome of an appeal by defence lawyers against Britain’s jurisdiction over the tiny island. That case is expected to be heard next year in New Zealand.

Bryan Nicolson of the British High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand, urged islanders to now put the process behind them.

“Feelings on the island understandably will be mixed but (the verdicts are) a very important step in bringing a conclusion to these matters, so that Pitcairn can look to the future,” he said.

Islanders have warned that if men are incarcerated, they likely will no longer be able to crew a long boat that serves as the island’s life line – transporting freight and passengers to and from passing ships that cannot dock anywhere along the rocky shore.

During one of the trials, prosecutor Christine Gordon said Dave Brown assaulted one girl in the island’s Seventh Day Adventist church and another during a fishing trip along the island’s rugged coast.

“Young girls were available to him if and when he chose,” Gordon said.

The abuse went on for decades, prosecutors said. Police launched an investigation after one victim told a visiting British police woman about the abuse in 1999.

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, in the Pacific Ocean about midway between New Zealand and Peru.

British policeman on Pitcairn Rod Vinson said the verdicts “send a clear message that the abuse of children is not acceptable in any culture, anywhere - and Pitcairn Island is no exception.”