On Thursday, a Los Angeles Federal Court jury acquitted a headwaiter working for Princess Cruises of sexually assaulting a woman passenger during a cruise on the Coral Princess.  

A woman from Kansas City accused Princess Cruises crew member Jorge Manuel Teixeira (from Portugal) of sexually assaulting her during a cruise last March between Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles, while the ship was at sea off the coast of Mexico.

Another Cruise Crime At Sea Goes Without Justice?

The daily Breeze newspaper has done the best job reporting on this case starting with "Crewman Arrested in Sexual Assault."

According to the FBI, the Princess crew member invited a 42-year-old passenger to share a bottle of wine and then attacked her.  He was charged with a federal count of aggravated sexual assault.  The 17-page FBI affidavit that describes the crime and a 100-page transcript of the crew member’s interview with two FBI agents are available on line.

Unsafe On The Love Boat? 

As we have reported in the past, there is a problem with sexual assaults on cruise ships, including the Carnival owned Princess Cruises and its sister company P & O Cruises.  We have commented on this problem in prior blogs – Unsafe on the "Love Boat?" – Sexual Assaults on Princess Cruise Ships and Sexual Assault Reported on P & O Cruises’ Pacific Sun Cruise Ship.

Arrests of sexual predators on cruise ships are rare, and criminal prosecutions and convictions are somewhere between slim and none.  Cruise lines often help defend their crew members behind the scenes, in the hope of avoiding the stigma of one of their crew members going to jail. 

No Jail Time – Business As Usual For Sexual Assailants on Cruise Ships

The Daily Breeze reports that the lawyer for the Princess Cruises waiter told the jury that the passenger had retained a lawyer and had a lawsuit pending against the cruise line.  This is the type of information routinely released to the assailant’s lawyer in order to taint the trial and prejudice the passenger who is victimized.  

Credits:

Coral Princess        Barbara Bagnell (via National Post)

Coral Princess Logo       Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer of the DailyBreeze.com