 Pitcairn Island, one of the remotest communities in the world, is embroiled in another controversy involving underage sexual activity after its former mayor was found guilty of possessing more than 1,000 images and videos depicting child abuse — the eighth man out of a total male population of around 12 to be accused of sex crimes involving children. Pitcairn mayor charged with possessing child abuse material wants to face 'local law' Read more 
 
 According to crown prosecutor Kieran Raferty, former mayor Michael Warren - who served as the island’s mayor from 2008 to 2013 - began downloading images of child abuse in 2004. The tiny British territory in the South Pacific, which has a population of around 50 people, gained international notoriety in 2004 when seven of the island’s 12 men were accused of a total of 55 sex crimes, some dating back 40 years. Warren was working in child protection on the island throughout the period he was downloading the images, and traveling in an official capacity to both New Zealand and the United Kingdom for training in the field, reported the Guardian. Warren initially defended his possession of the images by saying he was trying to better understand child pornography in the wake of the 2004 convictions, according to Radio New Zealand. However, a New Zealand Police investigation found Warren had engaged in sexually explicit online activity with a girl he believed to be 15 years old at the time. Map of Pitcairn Island Map of Pitcairn Island 
 
 It is not known whether he will be detained on the island’s specially-built prison, which was constructed by islanders found guilty of sex crimes with material shipped out from Britain in kit form. The Pitcairn Islands chain — which includes the three other uninhabited islands of Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno, — became a British colony in 1838.
– Efforts to rehabilitate the image of a tiny British territory in the South Pacific that was rocked by a 2004 sex abuse scandal have hit a roadblock. The former mayor of Pitcairn Island has been convicted of possessing more than 1,000 images and videos showing the sexual abuse of children, reports Vice, which notes that Michael Warren is the eighth man of the island's male population of about 12 to be accused of sex crimes against children. The island's total population is about 50. Prosecutors say Warren, mayor between 2008 and 2013, began downloading the images more than a decade ago, the Guardian reports. Warren's possession of the images was first discovered when he mistakenly sent an email to a diplomatic staff member from an email address linked to a chat site containing explicit images. Warren downloaded the images during a period in which he was working in child protection on the island. Initially, he defended himself by saying he did so to understand child pornography after the 2004 scandal, in which seven of the island's men were accused of 55 sex crimes. Defendants in that trial argued that sex between men and young girls was a cultural tradition on Pitcairn. Those men received sentences ranging from community service to six years in prison, while Warren was sentenced to 20 months. It is unclear if he will serve the sentence in New Zealand, where the island's legal proceedings are conducted, or as the sole inmate of Pitcairn's prison, which was constructed by islanders convicted of sex crimes. The island desperately needs new immigrants to survive, and Warren's case surely won't help. (In the US, some former vets are now going after child predators.)