Pitcairn abuse cases

[OULobo]

This one made one of the daily radio shows this week. It's a touchy case. The case is about Pitcairn Island, a 47 sq.mi. island in the middle of the pacific, that is 10 days journey by boat from Tahiti and has no airstrip. The island is home to a community of approximatly 50 people that was started over 200 years ago when the mutinears of the HMS Bounty landed there to hide and build a community. The island is the only British governed isle in the Pacific, and remains under British law. 7 men, roughly half of the male pop. of the island, are accused of sexual assault on minors as young as 12 on the island, stemming from incidents dating back 20 yrs. Many of the islanders claim that this activity is common and excepted on the island as tradition, mainly in place because of the need for earlier pregnancies to maintain the pop. and the need to diversify the island community's gene pool. Many islanders say the British gov. should butt out. The British government claims that, as long as Pitcairn is governed by them, their laws still stand.

Links:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_world_story_skin/448595?format=html
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040919-0947-thetrialsofpitcairn.html
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10911274%5E1702,00.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&e=20&u=/nm/pitcairn_dc

Now this one is a little emotionally charged. I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is and, on a personal level, if they are parents.

 

[Sarah]

This case is on the news here all the time......makes my skin crawl.

 

[OULobo]

This case is on the news here all the time......makes my skin crawl.

I wondered if our NZ forumites would pick up on this quick. Any extra insight from the homefront?

 

[Sarah]

Cant really shed much light on this....I don’t really watch the news, training most nights. As NZ is small news spreads quickly, and NZ have very strong feelings about.....well....everything!

I find stuff like this quite depressing, so tend not to get to into the story!

I wondered if our NZ forumites would pick up on this quick. Any extra insight from the homefront?

 

[Raewyn]

The case would have gone on alot longer if that guy had'nt have changed his plea, which is a good thing for the victums as they do not have to go through it. That guy needs to be shot.............sick bastard!!!!