Six men have been convicted of a string of sex attacks on the remote Pacific island of Pitcairn.
The convictions follow trials that exposed a culture of sexual abuse of children on the tiny home of descendants of the 18th century Bounty mutineers.
Among those convicted was the Pitcairn Island mayor, Steve Christian, who claims to be a direct descendant of mutiny leader Fletcher Christian. He was cleared of four indecent assaults and one rape but convicted of five other rapes of girls as young as 12.
The verdicts were read out by judges sent to the island from New Zealand who sat in makeshift courts in the Pitcairn community hall for the trials, which started on September 30th. Sentences were expected to be announced later this week.
The verdicts against Christian and six other men were delivered on Sunday in Pitcairn - Monday across the international date line in Australia.
The men were tried for a string of 51 sex attacks dating back 40 years on women and girls on the island, which has a permanent population of just 47.
During the trials, prosecutors painted a picture of a male-dominated society in which underage sex and assaults on children as young as five was commonplace.
Steve Christian's son, Randy Christian, was convicted of four rapes and five indecent assaults but cleared of one rape and two indecent assaults.
Another man, Len Brown (78) was convicted of two rapes. His son, Dave Brown, was convicted of nine indecent assaults and cleared of four indecent assaults and two charges of gross indecency.
Dennis Christian was convicted of one indecent assault and two sexual assaults he pleaded guilty to at trial.
Terry Young was convicted of one rape and six indecent assaults but cleared of one indecent assault. Jay Warren, the island's magistrate, was found innocent of indecent assault. His wife, Carol Warren, reacted angrily despite her husband being cleared.
"His name's been dragged through the mud," she said. "The whole world now sees him as a child molester. My God, if they only knew him." Before the trials even started, women living on the island came out in defence of their men, saying that while underage sex did happen, it was consensual.
None of the victims of abuse still live on the island, and they all testified via a video link from the northern New Zealand city of Auckland.
The convicted men could be sentenced to prison in the island's newly built cell block. But they will continue to be free pending the outcome of an appeal by defence lawyers against Britain's jurisdiction over the tiny island. That case is expected to be heard next year in New Zealand.
AP