The recent news of a crew member sexually assaulting a woman on an unidentified cruise ship sailing to St. Thomas reported by several newspapers in the U.S. Virgin Islands involved what the prosecutor is characterizing in court documents as a “brazen rape of his colleague.”

The criminal complaint, supporting affidavit of the investigating FBI agent, and the indictment and criminal information in the federal court file in St. Thomas reveal that the “aggravated sexual abuse by force” was allegedly committed by Celebrity crew member Louie Ison Mangampat aboard the Celebrity Equinoz as the cruise ship was sailing to St. Thomas on September 25, 2019.

The court documents reveal that on the night in question Mangampat and several other crew members gathered in a crew cabin when he “yanked” the female crew member “into the bathroom, where he locked her inside.” The FBI affidavit indicates that he then began “groping her against her active resistance.” Despite her attempts to block him from her body, Mangampat is alleged to have inserted one or more of his fingers into the crew member’s vagina. He is accused of performing oral sex on the woman and then “inserting his penis into her vagina.”

The woman reportedly broke away and got out of the bathroom and ran to her friend’s cabin where her friend called security and she was escorted to the ship infirmary. The ship doctor observed blood and internal physical injuries to the woman.

Mangampat admitted “having sex” with the crew member in written and video statements but claimed that it was consensual. He agreed to an interview with an FBI agent and denied having sexual intercourse and claimed that they only kissed.

In a motion for detention, the prosecutor characterized the assault as being of the “most serious – and disturbing – nature.” The government argued that the arrested crew member posed a danger to the community in light of his “brazen rape of his colleague.”

The original news article, like most such articles about the cruise industry in the U.S. Virgin Islands, did not contain any reference to the name of the cruise ship or cruise line and contained no information regarding what is alleged to have occured during the cruise to St. Thomas.

Mangampat’s Facebook page indicates that he was employed by Celebrity as a sushi cook.

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Photo credit: Brian Burnell via George Hutchinson CC BY-SA 3.0, commons / wikimedia.