R. Richard
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The mutiny on the Bounty resulted in several of the mutineers, along with several Tahitian women, sailing to Pitcairn Island and setting up housekeeping there. Within a year, all but one of the mutineers were dead, either by suicide or murder. Captain Bligh, the Captain of the Bounty, led his men to sail thousands of miles to safety in what is still considered the oustanding feat of small boat sailing. The Pitcairn Islanders live on a subsidy from the British government and by selling souveniers and postage stamps to tourists.
Pitcairn Island Men Sentenced in Sex Cases
MIKE CORDER, Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia - Six men, who comprise half the adult male population of tiny Pitcairn Island, received up to six years in prison for rapes and sex attacks dating back 40 years on the isolated home of the HMS Bounty mutineers, authorities said Friday.
Pitcairn mayor Steve Christian, who claims to be a direct descendent of mutiny leader Fletcher Christian, was convicted of five rapes and sentenced to three years.
Sentences for the other five ranged from community service to six years, British authorities in New Zealand said.
The trials disclosed decades of abuse of young women and girls as young as five. Prosecutors said sex attacks occurred throughout the island, in a church, in a garden, on a boat. Victims said they often did not report the abuse because of the community's culture of silence.
New Zealand policewoman Karen Vaughan said the victims showed "a mix of emotions" when told of the sentences.
They are "happy, sad, elated, just generally pleased that it's done with really so they can get on with their busy lives," she told One News on New Zealand's TVNZ.
Pitcairn, in the Pacific Ocean midway between Peru and New Zealand, has long fascinated the world as the refuge of the mutineers who cast Capt. William Bligh adrift with his supporters in 1789. They later settled on Pitcairn with Tahitian brides.
The sentences were suspended pending appeals challenging Britain's jurisdiction over the island, which has a permanent population of just 47. If the sentences are upheld, the men will serve time in a cell block they helped to build on the island.
Matthew Forbes, the island's deputy governor, said Christian and his son Randy, chairman of a key island committee, should resign their posts or Britain's governor for the island would step in to ensure its "best interests." He did not elaborate.
Island residents fear that prison terms will prevent the men from crewing a longboat that is Pitcairn's lifeline - ferrying fuel and food from passing ships that cannot dock along the island's rocky coastline.
It's likely the men would be released temporarily to crew the longboats, said John Connell, an expert on the South Pacific from the University of Sydney. Otherwise, "it would be punishment for the whole community," he said.
The defendants were convicted based on testimony from eight women who testified via a video link from the northern New Zealand city of Auckland.
The three-week trials were held under British law in makeshift courtrooms set up on the island and presided over by three judges from New Zealand.
The mayor's son, Randy, received six years for four rapes and five indecent assaults.
Len Brown, 78, was convicted of two rapes and sentenced to two years. His son, Dave, was convicted of nine indecent assaults and sentenced to community service.
Dennis Christian, 49, the postmaster and another descendant of Fletcher Christian, was convicted of one indecent assault and two sexual assaults he pleaded guilty to at trial. He also was sentenced to community service.
Terry Young was convicted of one rape and six indecent assaults. Judges imprisoned him for five years.
Jay Warren, the island's magistrate, was found innocent of indecent assault.
The Pitcairn Islands are a group of five rocky volcanic outcroppings - only the largest of which is inhabited - with a combined area of just 18 square miles.
Pitcairn Island Men Sentenced in Sex Cases
MIKE CORDER, Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia - Six men, who comprise half the adult male population of tiny Pitcairn Island, received up to six years in prison for rapes and sex attacks dating back 40 years on the isolated home of the HMS Bounty mutineers, authorities said Friday.
Pitcairn mayor Steve Christian, who claims to be a direct descendent of mutiny leader Fletcher Christian, was convicted of five rapes and sentenced to three years.
Sentences for the other five ranged from community service to six years, British authorities in New Zealand said.
The trials disclosed decades of abuse of young women and girls as young as five. Prosecutors said sex attacks occurred throughout the island, in a church, in a garden, on a boat. Victims said they often did not report the abuse because of the community's culture of silence.
New Zealand policewoman Karen Vaughan said the victims showed "a mix of emotions" when told of the sentences.
They are "happy, sad, elated, just generally pleased that it's done with really so they can get on with their busy lives," she told One News on New Zealand's TVNZ.
Pitcairn, in the Pacific Ocean midway between Peru and New Zealand, has long fascinated the world as the refuge of the mutineers who cast Capt. William Bligh adrift with his supporters in 1789. They later settled on Pitcairn with Tahitian brides.
The sentences were suspended pending appeals challenging Britain's jurisdiction over the island, which has a permanent population of just 47. If the sentences are upheld, the men will serve time in a cell block they helped to build on the island.
Matthew Forbes, the island's deputy governor, said Christian and his son Randy, chairman of a key island committee, should resign their posts or Britain's governor for the island would step in to ensure its "best interests." He did not elaborate.
Island residents fear that prison terms will prevent the men from crewing a longboat that is Pitcairn's lifeline - ferrying fuel and food from passing ships that cannot dock along the island's rocky coastline.
It's likely the men would be released temporarily to crew the longboats, said John Connell, an expert on the South Pacific from the University of Sydney. Otherwise, "it would be punishment for the whole community," he said.
The defendants were convicted based on testimony from eight women who testified via a video link from the northern New Zealand city of Auckland.
The three-week trials were held under British law in makeshift courtrooms set up on the island and presided over by three judges from New Zealand.
The mayor's son, Randy, received six years for four rapes and five indecent assaults.
Len Brown, 78, was convicted of two rapes and sentenced to two years. His son, Dave, was convicted of nine indecent assaults and sentenced to community service.
Dennis Christian, 49, the postmaster and another descendant of Fletcher Christian, was convicted of one indecent assault and two sexual assaults he pleaded guilty to at trial. He also was sentenced to community service.
Terry Young was convicted of one rape and six indecent assaults. Judges imprisoned him for five years.
Jay Warren, the island's magistrate, was found innocent of indecent assault.
The Pitcairn Islands are a group of five rocky volcanic outcroppings - only the largest of which is inhabited - with a combined area of just 18 square miles.
