Pitcairn trial a miscarriage of justice, says former islander

4.00pm

A former Pitcairn islander said today the six men found guilty of sex charges against underage girls were the victims of a gross miscarriage of justice.

"This should never have taken place," Reeve Cooze said. "The Pitcairn people have been bullied."

Sex with young girls had been consensual since the early days of settlement when there were two men, 11 women and a young girl on the island.

The women had agreed among themselves to share the men for "comfort". The record showed the children born to these two men were encouraged to have sex at a young age and produce children, to increase the population.

There were plenty of older women to look after the children, Mr Cooze said.

"People in the outside world do not understand. It was done for a purpose in those days."

Mr Cooze said underage sex was not as prevalent on the island now as it had been in the past.

It was deemed as "a bit of pleasure, a bit of growing up, a bit of feeling your way".

The girls had chosen to do it.

"It's not just Pitcairn, it's around the world," he told National Radio. "Even today you get young girls (who) prefer more mature men."

Mr Cooze denied there had ever been a case of rape on Pitcairn.

"Anybody that was silly enough to commit something like that -- it would be around the island in no time flat. They could not live there."

He hoped that one day the victims would have pangs of conscience. He believed the women had made the sex charges up.

"I am speaking the truth, as I know the truth."

Mr Cooze had lived on the island for 16 years and now lives in New Zealand.

- NZPA