Did Cunard Child Supervisor Molest Other Children During Cruises?
Earlier this week, we reported on the arrest of former Cunard child supervisor Paul Trotter on allegations that he abused a child and possessed indecent photographs of children on his computer.
The British police investigated Mr. Trotter (photo below, playing piano on Cunard cruise ship) after the parents of a child, identified only as being under the age of thirteen, brought the matter to the attention of authorities after the cruise. The initial newspaper articles indication that Mr. Trotter worked aboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth cruise ships, although one reader brought to my attention that he also worked aboard Cunard's Queen Victoria.
You can read our last article about Mr. Trotter here.
The disturbing thing with Mr. Trotter is that he reportedly worked for Cunard on various cruise ships over the course of five years. The issue arises whether he allegedly molested other children during cruises.
It is currently unknown whether Cunard terminated Mr. Trotter's employment or whether he voluntarily resigned.
Any expert in child sexual abuse will tell you that child predators are extremely manipulative and will position themselves to interact with children to satisfy their deviant sexual interests. They cannot be cured. They will abuse children again and again if given an opportunity.
It would be naive to think that any sexual predator, working for years and years with children, abused only one child and was promptly caught and prosecuted for that singular crime. Although the police investigation resulted in an arrest on charges of abusing one child, we know that the British police announced that they are speaking with the families of other children in England who cruised with Cunard as well.
We have been contacted by other families who cruised on Cunard asking for information on Mr. Trotter - what cruise ships did he work on and exactly when was he a child supervisor on these ships?
We asked Cunard for this information. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Certainly families who cruised with Cunard are entitled to know whether an alleged child predator was supervising their children during their cruises?
February 16, 2012 Update: Cunard's response is below:
"We are deeply shocked by these allegations as the safety and well being of our customers is of paramount importance to us. A thorough police investigation is underway which we are supporting and co-operating with fully. Given that the police inquiry is ongoing, we cannot comment any further or answer any questions at this stage.
What we can say is that we are working closely with the National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), a UK-based charity which specializes in supporting children and families to ensure that affected families and children are offered appropriate support. Following these allegations being made, we also asked the NSPCC to conduct an independent comprehensive review of our facilities, policies and procedures. This review is underway and we will be implementing any recommendations resulting from this review."
Photo credit: stretch gp23 YouTube
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The police in England started the investigation after a parent of one of the abused children tipped the police. Although the U.K. media is referring to only one abused child at this point, the police have interviewed several families in England, Mr. Trotter worked for five years for Cunard on Cunard’s flagship, the Queen Mary 2, and its sister cruise ships, the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Victoria. 
illustrates our commitment to the safety of the millions of guests and crew that sail on our ships." .jpg)
prior record of sexually harassing passengers. She retained us to represent her. I sent a handful of letters to President Goldstein, asking for our client's medical records, her statement, and the name and address of the Royal Caribbean employee who raped Laurie. We received nothing in response. Goldstein ignored us.
The 
crewmember Palmer admitted having sex with the girl, but claims that he believed that she was 16.
the Royal Caribbean cruise ship. His facebook page shows him fraternizing with numerous women around the cruise ship pool and other areas of the ship. The photos are all from his facebook page.
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The 
A previous judge who presided over the preliminary hearing, John "Jay" Hurley, expressed concern that Scavone would flee to Brazil if given the opportunity. The Sun-Sentinel quotes the judge saying "People who are from Brazil can go to Brazil, and there's very little chance that they'll be brought back to the United States." The judge called Brazil a "loophole." The judge was referring to the fact that Brazil recently amended its constitution to prohibit the extradition of criminals from Brazil. Judge Hurley ordered that Scavone be fitted with a GPS monitor if he is released from custody while the case is pending.
The alleged assailants are two Brazilian passengers who were sailing aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, which is based on Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida..jpg)
Are there security "sub-stations" in each of the neighborhoods?
AM, Jordan led her a bathroom where he engaged in sexual acts with the child until around 2:00 AM..jpg)
Although Bloodsworth admitted to the crime and said that he had "made a terrible mistake," the Federal District Judge sentenced him to a decade in jail and ordered that spend the rest of his life under supervision by the U.S. Probation Office when he gets out of prison..jpg)
The first issue, perhaps, is how can a country like Bermuda which did not bother to send an investigator to the Star Princess to arrest the assailant crewmember after raping a young woman on the Bermuda flagged cruise ship be an appropriate forum for the victim to seek justice?
On Friday, the Eleventh Circuit decided the case of 
The article is based on research conduct by cruise line expert Dr. Ross Klein, who has testified before our U.S. Congress on issues of crimes against cruise passengers. Dr. Klein's popular 
There is also a question whether the statistics released by Royal Caribbean are to be trusted.
She reported the incident to her supervisors and was examined and treated in the ship infirmary. Police in the next port of call in Israel interviewed her, and the assailant crew member was eventually terminated and sent home. Like most cruise ship sexual assault allegations, the assailant crew member was not arrested and there was no criminal prosecution..jpg)
After conducting an extensive analysis of the Royal Caribbean / Celebrity fleet, these experts concluded that sexual misconduct occurred "frequently" during cruises. They attributed this problem to the fact that most crew members were not afraid of being arrested, much less convicted. Dr. Krohne reported that the worst thing that could happen to a crew member who committed a crime on a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity cruise ship was to be sent on a one way flight home..jpg)
The blog states that a 13-year-old girl was taking a cruise to Mexico in March with her friend and her friend’s mother. She met Bloodsworth on March 6th near the elevators onboard the Carnival Elation cruise ship and agreed to meet him on the top deck after dinner. She later agreed to go with Bloodsworth to get a jacket from his cabin, where the sexual abuse occurred.
The alleged incident occurred in April when the passenger was participating in an NCL organized "pub crawl." 
the cabin and took pornographic photos of the drunken girl, according to the article.
The article does not mention whether the victim was a cruise passenger or another crew member.
best defense lawyer for the cruise lines in Miami. Supported by the usual small army of cruise lawyers and support staff, he did his usual great job. This is only the second case Cruise Law has lost in the past ten years. We are consoled by the fact that the cruise line probably spent over $150,000 defending the case. A $15,000,000,000 cruise line corporation which pays no U.S. taxes has money to burn. It's a nice feeling to see good lawyers like Horr get paid lots of money, especially by the scoundrels at Royal Caribbean. 
Tomorrow Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas is making its final voyage from the Port of Los Angeles and will re-position to its new home base of Galveston, Texas. Norwegian Cruise Line's Star cruise ship will leave Los Angeles in a couple of months to reposition to Tampa.
John K. Martynus, age 39, of Plainfield, Illinois, who counsels troubled children and works as a high school sports coach and referee, 
This situation illustrates a problem that most families do not consider, namely that there are sexual predators on cruises. None of the cruise lines conduct a background check on cruise passengers, and there is no law prohibiting sexual predators, accused or convicted, from cruising. That's why you have situations where a sexual predator can book a cruise for the express purpose of molesting a child, a situation which happened earlier this year on a Royal Caribbean cruise -.jpg)
cadetship to become a navigational officer. After she reported being raped, her lifeless body was found floating in the water off the coast of Croatia. It is unknown whether someone pushed her overboard or she committed suicide.
The newspaper indicates that she was raped by a fellow South African, a fitness instructor, and sent home after reporting the incident. 
cruise line now calls its "Global Security Department." The question is whether Mr. Bald and his new team of ex-FBI agents are genuinely trying to protect the passengers and crew and help build a case against the rapists which have targeted Royal Caribbean passengers and crew members. 
Jim Walker practices admiralty and maritime personal injury law. He has been involved in maritime litigation since 1983. Based in
