A newspaper in Massachusetts reports that a thirty two year-old man from Mississippi pled guilty to sexually abusing a 15 year-old boy on the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship. The passenger, identified as Adam Christopher Boyd, now age 32, had been arrested in Bermuda for the crime one and one-half years ago. He was extradicted back to the U.S. to face criminal charges.

Mr. Boyd was initially released after his arraignment in federal court in 2017, but was later arrested in Mississippi in November of 2018 and detained after he reportedly violated the conditions of his release.

The crime reportedly occurred during a NCL seven day cruise on August 14, 2017 while the cruise ship was docked in Bermuda, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston.

On August 30, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts filed criminal charges against Mr. Boyd who was reportedly from Bay Springs, Mississippi.

The federal court filing in federal court in Boston indicates that the United States charged Mr. Boyd with one count of sexual abuse of a minor. According to an affidavit from a FBI agent in support of the criminal charges and arrest warrant, the Norwegian Dawn arrived at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda on August 13, 2017 where it was scheduled to spend three days before returning to Boston.

The FBI affidavit states that before the rape, the 15-year-old boy was drinking alcohol on deck 13 of the ship with other passengers who he met during the cruise.  Mr. Boyd met the child and informed him that he was an hairdresser and offered to braid the child’s hair. Mr. Boyd reportedly asked the child his age and the boy said he was 15-years-old. The FBI reportedly later interviewed another passenger who stated that Mr. Boyd asked him if the boy was really just 15-years-old, and the passenger confirmed that the minor was, in fact, 15-years-old and not 18 as Mr. Boyd later claimed.

According to the court filings, Mr. Boyd volunteered to escort the boy back to his cabin and offered the boy to stay in Mr. Boyd’s cabin which the child declined. The ship’s surveillance footage reportedly showed Mr. Boyd and the boy leaving deck 13 early in the morning of August 14th; another passenger verified that the boy appeared to be intoxicated at the time. When they reached a secluded area of deck 14, Mr. Boyd kissed the child and put his hands down the minor’s pants and felt his genitals, following which he anally raped the boy, according to the affidavit.  After the incident, the minor told a group of other teenagers who he previously met during the cruise, that he had been sexually assaulted. He also he told the police in Bermuda, who later came onto the ship to investigate the incident, that he had been “raped.”

The court filing further indicates that other passengers stated that later that morning they saw the boy sitting by himself on deck 13, appearing upset and crying.  The child eventually returned to his cabin and reported the sexual assault to his family who alerted the ship’s security personnel who, in turn, notified the police in Bermuda. The local police took the child to a hospital where a rape kit was administered. The police arrested Mr. Boyd who denied that penetrated the child.

The FBI agent, who prepared the affidavit, stated that she believed that there was probable cause that Mr. Boyd violated Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 2243(a) which defines sexual abuse as knowingly engaging or attempting to engage in a sexual act with a minor who has not attained the age of 16 and is four years or more younger than the assailant. The sexual abuse of a minor carries a jail sentence of five to fifteen years and a fine of up to $250,000.

Sexual assaults of minors on cruise ships is an issue which I write about often; NBC News recently aired an investigation into the sexual assault of minors on cruise ships – NBC News: Hidden Dangers for Children on Cruise Ships. We have written about boys as well as girls being victimized during cruises, not only by crew members but by other adult passengers. Cruise lines are in the business of selling carefree, dream vacations to idyllic destinations; the cruise industry will never warn passengers of the dangers of their children encountering predator crew members or pedophile passengers.

The U.S. government has jurisdiction to prosecute cases of rape on cruise ships when a U.S. citizen is involved, as either the victim or the assailant.  The criminal charge in federal court in a case of rape of a child is characterized as the “sexual abuse” of a minor; there are no criminal federal statutes for “rape” or “sexual assault.”

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Update: The Miami New Times today reported on the filing of a lawsuit by the parents of an eleven year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a 27 year-old NCL crew member who entered the child’s cabin using a master key card,

Top photo credit: Rap Sheets – of Adam Boyd for arrest on charges of driving under the influence in Mississippi in August 2015.

Middle photo credit: Norwegian Dawn – Fletcher6 – CC BY 4.0, commons / wikimedia.