One of the topics I harp on here at Cruise Law News is the danger of having a sexual predator sailing in the next cabin to you while you enjoy a vacation cruise.
Cruise ships of course do not screen passengers to determine whether they are sexual predators. The local port officials and sheriff’s offices can easily perform background checks like this but they usually don’t bother to conduct the checks until the cruise ships are at sea and then it’s too late to arrest the undesirables before they can attack someone on the cruise.
Today we have another example of why it is prudent not to trust the friendly man who is sailing next to your family’s cabin.
WSVN-7 reports today that the police arrested a 30 year old man who allegedly sexually assaulted two underage teenage girls outside a South Florida shelter. The news station states that Brian Denby was arrested after arriving back at the Port of Miami from a cruise this morning.
Three weeks ago, according to police, Denby was walking by a shelter for victims of abuse called "Kids in Distress." After talking to two teen girls who live at the shelter, he hopped the fence sexually abused the two girls. The police released his sketch and after a tip came in the officers were able to identify Denby.
The news station reports that Denby was on vacation on a Royal Caribbean cruise in the Bahamas. When the cruise ship arrived back to the Port of Miami today, the police and federal officials boarded the ship and arrested Denby. He is in jail in Broward County charged with several counts of lewd and lascivious battery.
Photograph courtesy of Broward County Sheriff’s Office via CBS News.