Sex abuse inquiry tears Pitcairn apart

For two centuries, the descendants of Fletcher Christian and his fellow Bounty mutineers have led an apparently blissful existence on tiny Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific, largely untroubled by the outside world.

That peaceful façade is about to be shattered by allegations of widespread sexual abuse on the island, Britain's last dependent territory in the South Seas. A prosecutor from New Zealand is poised to lay charges against at least 20 men, and a trial could be held – probably in Auckland – later this year.

The case follows a two-year investigation by Kent Police and prosecutors claim it touches almost every family on Pitcairn, home to 45 people living in one of the most isolated spots on earth, 3,000 miles from New Zealand. The charges are understood to relate to girls who were allegedly raped or had sexual relations with adult men or teenage boys. The alleged victims were aged between five and 15.

Simon Moore, a lawyer from Auckland lawyer appointed as Pitcairn public prosecutor by the British Government, has spent the past year examining dozens of claims uncovered by police. Mr Moore has completed his review, but charges have been delayed by indecision about a venue for what promises to be one of the most sensational criminal trials of modern times.

Pitcairn is not considered practical, particularly as many alleged victims now live elsewhere. Britain has asked New Zealand for permission to hold the trial in Auckland, but has yet to receive a response.

Some of the alleged perpetrators still live on Pitcairn, which is governed from afar by the British high commissioner in Wellington, Richard Fell. Others have moved to New Zealand and elsewhere. The High Commission said yesterday that New Zealand would probably have to pass special legislation to enable the trial to be held within its jurisdiction.

Wherever it is heard, the case threatens to blow apart the minuscule community of Pitcairn, where residents spend their days fishing, growing vegetables and carving wooden souvenirs to sell to passing cruise ships. Pitcairn is accessible only by sea, and supplies are hauled ashore on two longboats manned by the islanders, all Seventh Day Adventists.

The criminal proceedings were set in motion by a 15-year-old girl who claimed in 1999 that she had been raped by a visiting New Zealander. The case was dealt with by islanders and the young man sent away, but it prompted other girls to come forward with accounts of alleged sexual mistreatment by locals.

A Kent police constable, Gail Cox, who was temporarily stationed on Pitcairn, began an inquiry that quickly grew into a major investigation. Detectives travelled to Australia, New Zealand and Britain, interviewing every woman and girl who had lived on the island over the past two decades.

Pitcairn has long been idealised by the outside world, thanks to its enchanting setting and the lure of the Bounty legend, which has inspired five Hollywood films. But some recent visitors have found it less than idyllic, returning with tales of a claustrophobic, inter-related community riven by petty rows and feuds.

Others say they were struck by the sexual precocity of the island's young girls.

Neville Tosen, a Seventh Day Adventist pastor posted there for two years, raised concerns about suspected sexual abuse at a meeting of the island council. He was told that the age of consent on Pitcairn had always been 12. The island's matriarchs allegedly told Mr Tosen that it was a rite of passage for young girls to be singled out for sex by older men.

Pitcairn, settled in 1790 by a group of English sailors seeking a safe haven after staging their famous uprising against Captain Bligh, has only ever held one trial. In 1897 Harry Albert Christian was convicted of killing his wife and child. He was hanged in Fiji.