2y ago

TIL that on the isolated Pacific Pitcairn Island, six men, including the mayor, out of a total population of just 47, were in 2004 found guilty of rape and sexual assault against children.

en.wikipedia.org

2004 Pitcairn Islands sexual assault trial - Wikipedia

The main defense consisted of disputing the British sovereignty of the island, and thus the the applicability of British law regarding sexual offenses. Instead, it was claimed that the island had its unique culture permitting the sexual acts that they stood on trial for.

9 comments

Oh god, the poor children. Trapped on an Island with psychos
- I wonder if they have any choice but to bear the children of their rapists, who then become the next victims. Apparently the incest/molestation goes on for generations. How awful.
What a fucked up case. They couldn’t be sent to prison because they were the ones who knew how to operate the island ferry. Eventually one of the accused got acquitted, some others sent to community service, and the mayor got a couple of years. The mayor was dismissed, his sister became the interim mayor, and eventually the guy that got acquitted became the next mayor. Fucking shit.
This was a fucked up read.
- Yeah, I think I'm going to give this one a miss. Thanks for the warning.
The story of how the island came to be us quite interesting. The inhabitants were from a mutiny of the HMS Bounty in the 1800s and in a rejection of British rule they burned the ship.
They had to surrender their weapons too. It's literally an island of defenceless pedophiles if anyone is feeling a little colonial atm.
the island had its unique culture permitting the sexual acts that they stood on trial for.
There is such a culture in the world.
Fascinating rabbit hole. Thank you for sharing

9 comments