Pitcairn mayor's son accused of rape
The son of the former mayor of the remote pacific island of Pitcairn appeared in court today charged with rape, the eighth islander to be prosecuted on a series of sexual assault charges dating back up to 40 years.
Shawn Christian, 29, who has lived in Australia since 1998, had already appeared in court on the charges, but the Pitcairn Magistrate’s Court had ordered the media not identify him.
But the court, which is sitting in New Zealand’s city of Auckland, lifted that suppression order during today’s pre-trial hearing.
Christian’s father, former Pitcairn mayor Steve, and his brother Randy have already been convicted on rape and unlawful sex charges, but along with four other convicted offenders, are free on bail pending appeals.
Just 47 people live on Pitcairn, a mile wide and two miles long, and located halfway between New Zealand and Peru in the mid-Pacific.
The island is home to descendants of mutineers from the British ship the HMS Bounty, and is administered by a British-appointed governor based in the New Zealand capital of Wellington.
