Mayor of Pitcairn charged with having child pornography

Dec 4, 2010, 0:27 GMT

Wellington - The mayor of tiny Pitcairn Island, Britain's last territory in the Pacific, where six men were convicted of sex crimes against women and young girls four years ago, has been charged with possessing child pornography, according to news reports in New Zealand on Saturday.

Michael Warren, 46, faces 25 charges of having pornographic photographs and videos of children on his computer, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Warren was arrested by the New Zealand police officer seconded to the island, which is formally governed from 5,300 kilometres away by Britain's senior diplomat in New Zealand.

The paper said he was arrested in May but was granted name suppression which lapsed this week. Two laptops, two hard drives and 48 compact discs were reportedly confiscated. Court documents, allege police found more than 1,000 pornographic images and videos of children on them, the Herald said.

Pitcairn has a resident population of about 50 living on the main island 3.2 kilometres long and 1.6 kilometres wide. Having no airport, it can be reached only by ship.

It was founded by nine crew members from the British ship the Bounty, including first mate Fletcher Christian, who mutinied against their bullying Captain William Bligh, and settled there with some Tahitians in 1790.

Pitcairn's deputy governor, diplomat Ginny Silva, told the paper that Warren's trial could take place on the island or in New Zealand, but that decision was up to a magistrate.

Seven of the island's 12 men were charged in 2004 and 2006 with a total of 55 sex crimes, some dating back 40 years. Six were found guilty, with four sentenced to terms of up to five years in the island's jail which was built for the case.

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