A Royal Caribbean crew member pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a cruise passenger last year, according to a New Jersey newspaper.

NJ.com reports that Karan Seechurn of Mauritius, an employee who worked aboard the Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas, pleaded guilty to one count of abusive sexual contact.

In December of last year, crew member Seechurm (a mini-bar attendant) used a master key while he Karan Seechurn Royal Caribbean Cruisewas off-duty to enter a woman’s cabin and molested the woman while she was sleeping. 

As we wrote last year, it’s a dangerous practice to give male cabin attendants or mini-bar attendants a master key to passenger cabins. Prior sexual assaults have occurred on Royal Caribbean ships under similar circumstances. Royal Caribbean touts the Quantum as the most technological advanced cruise ship on the high seas. It’s too bad that the cruise line didn’t use old school technology and deactivate the master keys and cards to passenger cabins after hours.

The crew member faces up to three years for the sexual abuse charge. The sentence seems quite light. Seechurn tried to prevent the woman from leaving her cabin and threatened her when she awoke.

Many of his co-employees came to his defense on social media last year and posted comments disparaging the victim. 

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Photo Credit: Karan Seechurn Google Plus Page