Pitcairn Island, population 47, lies more than 4800km from New Zealand. Yesterday its population was to increase by nearly half as boats bringing more than 20 judges, lawyers and police -- along with four journalists, a novelist and a television crew -- were to arrive.
For more than 200 years, this volcanic rock has been home to descendants of Fletcher Christian and his mutinous shipmates, who burnt the HMS Bounty here in 1790. But this week their refuge will face its darkest days as the British government tries seven local men for sex crimes spanning four decades.
The investigation began more than four years ago, after a young Kent policewoman was sent to Pitcairn to help with community policing. She was horrified to find that many local girls had been having sex from 12 and that most had their first child between 12 and 15.
In the ensuing months, Kent and New Zealand police traced scores of women who had lived in Pitcairn. The message from Britain was clear: press full charges and allow no plea bargaining. In 2002, the seven were charged with 31 counts of rape, 63 charges of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child under 14.
But now new documents have come to light that could cause "considerable embarrassment to Her Majesty's Government" and be "highly damaging to the Crown's Pitcairn Island sex case," a source said. Yesterday the High Court in London blocked them from being made public. It is believed the defense hope this evidence will keep the men out of prison.
The news, however, comes too late. The island's sudden step into the limelight, after centuries of isolation, has torn Pitcairn's community apart. For the locals, who refuse to speak to the media, there isn't even anywhere to run. The island is about half the size of Richmond Park in London. Walk up the main road to the hills and, within 15 minutes, you've reached the shore on the other side.
In the past few days, the men who stand accused have helped to heave the final shipment of barbed wire up to the newly built prison that may soon incarcerate them. Locals have dubbed it the "chicken run." Children have been moved out of the schoolhouse so that it can be turned into a court.
And yesterday, occupants of every house lining the muddy main road were forced to hand over their muskets and handguns -- which they use to shoot breadfruit from trees. The authorities fear emotions could soon run high enough to turn into violence.
Neighbors pass each other in the street without even a nod. The divide is between those who think that British justice should prevail and those who think their traditions are under threat.
Kari Young lived on the island for 20 years. "The accused men and their families are just so scared," she said. "They sent some pictures of the prison they have built and said many of them were in tears as they unloaded the final shipment of barbed wire to be put on top of the walls. I asked why they were building their own gallows, and they said that, if they did not, outsiders would have been brought in to do the job."
Anger at the charges stems from the fact that Pitcairners claim sex with 12-year-old girls is culturally acceptable. In Polynesian society during the 18th and 19th centuries, it was common for girls of this age to be considered sexually mature.
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