Pitcairn defendant pleads guilty to sex abuse

One of the seven men on trial for sexual abuse on the remote Pacific island of Pitcairn has changed his plea to guilty.

Dennis Christian, the island's postmaster and a descendant of Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian, admitted carrying out three sex assaults against two girls aged as young as 12 between the early Seventies and early Eighties.

Two of the charges were samples representing a prolonged pattern of abuse, while a fourth charge was dismissed when no evidence was offered.

Christian, 49, now faces being jailed in the prison constructed on the island by the British in case of convictions in the seven separate trials.

Seven men - half the island's male population - face 55 charges of rape and underage sex. Some of the charges relate to incidents that took place in the Sixties, the prosecution says. The seven include Pitcairn mayor Steve Christian, another Fletcher Christian descendant. He denies six charges of rape and four of indecent assault between 1964-75. Dennis Christian was remanded on bail for sentencing at the end of the hearing.

Pitcairn is the last British territory in the South Pacific and has a population of 47.