Four of six Pitcairn Islanders convicted of sex crimes were handed jail terms on Thursday but escaped longer prison sentences because of the unique location of the remote British colony, officials said.
Pitcairn's mayor Steve Christian, 53 -- a descendant of 18th century Bounty ringleader Fletcher Christian -- was given three years for five counts of rape along with son Randy Christian, 30, who was given six years.
The British High Commission spokesman, Bryan Nicholson, said Terry Young, 45, who was convicted of one rape and six cases of indecent assault, received a sentence of five years.
The oldest defendant, 78-year-old Len Brown, convicted of two rapes, was ordered to serve two years imprisonment with the option of home detention.
His son Dave Brown, 49, found guilty of nine cases of indecent assault, was ordered to do 400 hours of community service while Dennis Christian, 49, who pleaded guilty to three indecent assault charges, received 300 hours.
All the sentences passed were suspended pending further legal action. A complex wrangle over Pitcairn's legal status means the men are unlikely to be sent to jail until next year at the earliest.
Under British law the men could have been given far heavier sentences of around five to eight years, with the maximum penalty for rape being life imprisonment.
But media reports from the island said Pitcairn Chief Justice Charles Blackie, in sentencing Steven Christian, said the penalties had been "tailored to Pitcairn" and took into account "factors unique to the island, such as its isolation, its permanent population of less than 50 people and its dependence on the manpower of its able-bodied citizens."
He said that jail sentences appropriate to England or New Zealand could have "an adverse effect on the community."
The island's residents said the men were vital to maintain contacts with the outside world.
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