Alleged Pitcairn sex victim was smitten, defence says

By KATHY MARKS

Final submissions were presented yesterday in the trials of seven Pitcairn men accused of raping and molesting young girls, with lawyers for the last defendant, Randy Christian, accusing his principal alleged victim of being infatuated with him.

Pitcairn Supreme Court, sitting in Adamstown, has heard three weeks of evidence alleging widespread abuse of young girls on the island over 40 years. Three Auckland-based judges imported for the trials will deliver verdicts on Sunday (Monday NZT), with sentencing to follow four days later.

Randy Christian, the son of Steve Christian, Pitcairn's mayor, is charged with five rapes and seven indecent assaults, carried out against four women between 1988 and 1999. He has admitted to having under-age sex with a girl of 11 or 12. His father is also on trial, as are his uncle, Dave Brown, and his grandfather, Len Brown.

Prosecutors claim the younger Christian targeted one particular girl from the age of five or seven, abusing her repeatedly over the next 10 years. But Allan Roberts, his defence lawyer, reminded Justice Russell Johnson in his closing address yesterday that the girl wrote Christian two love letters before he left Pitcairn for Norfolk Island.

In her statement to police, Mr Roberts said, she had talked of "having a crush on Randy even though he is no longer on the island".

He added: "The infatuation of this complainant is manifest."

But Simon Moore, the public prosecutor, dismissed the notion that the girl, now 20, had pursued allegations against Christian because she was "a cold and cruel and vengeful liar who would stop at nothing to draw attention back to herself ... a woman scorned".

The court has heard that Christian had two girlfriends during the period in question, including a pest control officer who came to Pitcairn to rid the island of rats.

Mr Moore said he exploited the 10-year age gap with his alleged victim, as well as his superior physical strength. "He traded on her naivety, her ignorance, her innocence," he said.

"He flattered her, he played her and he lured her into situations where he could do as he wished."

The girl was the first to tell an outsider about sexual abuse on Pitcairn, complaining about Christian to her mother, who in turn told a visiting British police officer, Gail Cox.

The allegation triggered an investigation by English police, who uncovered claims of decades of abuse.

Mr Moore said it was not unusual for a young girl to have a crush on an older man.

"He was popular on the island, popular with the girls," he said of Christian.

"Of course, Pitcairn Island is not generously endowed with eligible unattached young men."

It was after reading a leaflet from Ms Cox on sexual harassment that the girl realised Christian's behaviour was unacceptable, he said.