Shawn Christian (mayor)
Shawn Brent Christian (born 14 September 1975) is a Pitcairnese politician, who served as Mayor of the Pitcairn Islands between 2014 and 2019. He was convicted of child rape in 2007.
Shawn Christian | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of the Pitcairn Islands | |
| In office 1 January 2014 – 31 December 2019 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor | Victoria Treadell Jonathan Sinclair |
| Preceded by | Mike Warren |
| Succeeded by | Charlene Warren-Peu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 September 1975 Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands |
| Political party | Independent |
Biography
Christian was born to Steve Christian and Olive Jal Brown, and was named after Shawn Branigan, the son of friends of his parents.[1] He is a patrilineal descendant of Fletcher Christian. In 1998 he moved to Australia and studied in Newcastle, New South Wales.[2][3]
Along with his father, who was then serving as the islands' mayor, and older brother Randall, he was implicated in the Pitcairn sexual assault trial in 2004, and after being extradited from New Zealand to stand trial, was found guilty of two counts of child rape and one count of aiding or abetting a rape.[3] One of the charges related to an incident in which he and his brother gang raped a 12-year-old girl.[4][5][6] He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison,[7] but was released after two years.[8]
In the 2013 elections, Christian was elected Mayor of the Pitcairn Islands, beating Simon Young in the third round of voting with a majority of just under 3%, after no candidate received an absolute majority in the first round and the second round (runoff) resulted in a tie.[9] He was re-elected in the 2016 elections for another three-year term.[10]
References
- Who Are the Pitcairners? Pitcairn Islands Study Center
- Christian challenges Pitcairn trial The Age, 25 November 2005
- Pitcairn Islander guilty of child sex The Australian, 10 January 2007
- "Two Pitcairn men guilty of sex charges against girls". NZ Herald. 9 January 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- Prochnau, William; Parker, Laura (17 December 2007). "Trouble in Paradise". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- Richardson, Nigel (21 September 2019). "Human stain on island idyll". The Weekend Australian Magazine. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- Pitcairn: Paradise Lost Readers Digest Asia
- Eco-tourism: Pitcairn strives to live down its terrible past The Independent
- Dem Tull October 2013
- Pitcairn Islands Government 2019 Theodora
