Two crew members employed by Princess Cruises on a cruise ship in Alaska in the summer of 2019 will now serve decades in prison for their involvement in creating and/or distributing child pornography. One of the men met a sixteen (16) year-old child who was taking an Alaskan cruise with her parents while he was working as an assistant cruise director. He repeatedly texted and called the minor after she left the cruise and he later arranged to meet her in a hotel where he filmed having sex with the girl.
Daniel Crow – Princess Assistant Cruise Director
Daniel Scott Crow, employed by Princess Cruises as an assistant cruise director, was sentenced late last year by Southern District of Florida Judge Jose Martinez to thirty (30) years in prison for enticing an underage child to engage in sex with him and take part in the production of child pornography. Crow was thirty-five (35) years of age when he met the sixteen (16) year old child during a cruise in July 2019 on an unidentified Princess Cruises ship. A press release by the Department of Justice (DOJ) sets forth the basic facts of the disturbing sexual crimes committed by Crowe.
Angelo Fernandes – Princess Crew Member
A second Princess crew member, Angelo Victor Fernandes, from India, age 34, worked on the same Princess cruise ship as Crow. Fernandes was friends with Crow and the two men discussed “obtaining children for sex.” Fernandes admitted to federal agents when he was arrested that he was sexually attracted to Crow and sent him sexually explicit videos and child pornography in exchange for videos of Crow masturbating. The two crew members discussed travelling to sexually abuse children as young as five years of age. Judge Aileen Cannon, of the federal district court in Fort Pierce, Florida, sentenced Fernandes last week to 188 months (over 15 and1/2 years) in prison. A press release by the DOJ sets forth the basic facts of the crimes committed by Fernandes.
The name of the Princess cruise ship was not disclosed in the court records, although there is an affidavit which reveals that crew member Fernandes worked on the Coral Princess cruise ships as early as 2013.
The Crew Members Exchanged Graphic Child Pornography and Discussed Violent Sexual Abuse of Children
Portions of the criminal files against Crow (United States of America v. Daniel Scott Crow, case number 22-cr-14035) and Fernandes (United States of America v. Fernandes, case number 22-cr-14046) were sealed by the courts. A number of filings were not under seal and revealed statements by Crow that he was employed as an assistant cruise director on a Princess Cruises ship. (He previously worked for Royal Caribbean.) Crow met the child as an “entertainer for children on the cruise.” He initially informed the girl that company rules prohibited him from interacting with guests so he exchanged Instagram handles and telephone numbers with the girl. After the cruise, he messaged the child daily via WhatsApp and would ask her for photos and videos of her in the nude and masturbating.
Crow arranged to meet with the child at a hotel in May of 2020 for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts which he videotaped.
In April of 2022, Homeland Security Investigations detained Crow at an airport when he was returning to the U.S. A search of Crow’s cell phone revealed chats between him and Fernandes. The two Princess employees communicated about Crow traveling to Thailand, Philippines or India in order to engage in sexual activity with minor children.
Crow received a substantial amount of child pornography from Fernandes. Crow directed him to provide pornography of pre-pubescent minors and chided Fernandes that the children were ”too old.” Consequently, Fernandes sent Crow 13 videos containing over 600 images of child pornography which included prepubescent minors under the age of twelve (12), including images of toddlers being sexually abused. The text messages and WhatsApp exchanges between Crow and Fernandes reflect a disturbing focus on sadistic and masochistic abuse of children.
A Scheme to Produce and Exchange Child Pornography
The Mercury newspaper reports that Federal prosecutors uncovered a scheme between these two cruise ship employees to trade sexually explicit videos of Crow in exchange for child pornography. The newspaper states that “Fernandes had a sexual interest in Crow, who ‘exploited’ that interest by agreeing to send Fernandes lascivious videos of himself masturbating in exchange for child pornography.” Fernandes, in turn, “sent Crow a series of videos depicting prepubescent children being sexually abused and Crow responded with approval, describing one video as ‘perfect’ and asking Fernandes where he got it.”
The search of Crow’s phone also revealed that he was following the Instagram accounts of several other minor girls, although it is currently unknown whether he met these children on the Princess cruise ship during his employment
Assistant Cruise Director: From a Position of Trust to Violent Images of Abuse of Minors and Enticement of a Child
In court papers, the federal prosecutor argued that Crow’s actions were not a “one-time mistake” but “calculated decisions based on his own deeply held sexual desires. Crow was a man in a position of trust, acting as a cruise entertainer responsible for the care and entertainment of children,” the prosecutor wrote. The prosecutor urged Judge Martinez to sentence Crow to forty-five (45) years in prison.
Crow’s defense attorney sought a reduced, maximum sentence of 15 years, in part because the victim was seventeen (17) when they first engaged in sex. He argued that in some states “teenagers aged 16 or 17 can lawfully engage in sexual relations with adults.”
Blame the Child Victim?
Crow’s defense lawyer tried to argue that the child was essentially a “precocious, mature, sexually aggressive” seductress who was “partially responsible” for Crow’s crimes. He argued that the victim enticed Crow into having sex, going as far as to argue that the minor was a “precocious 17-year-old sexually aggressive young lady fully cognizant of the sexual attraction she created in the Defendant, she used this attraction and built upon it by continuing to text the Defendant sexual, graphic fantasies she harbored.”
Isolation and Depression During COVID-19 Lock Down?
Crow’s lawyer also argued that after the coronavirus hit the cruise industry, Crow and other crew members suffered from the effects of long-term isolation when they were required to quarantine in their cabins. Crow’s alcohol consumption increased when he began working on the Princess cruise ship and his drinking increased even more due to the “extreme social isolation and difficult circumstances” associated with COVID-19. He would stay sober only until around 11:00 a.m. when he and other crew members would begin drinking alcohol. From February to August 2021, the crew was in isolation and he would always be intoxicated. Several crew members killed themselves due to the isolation and stress.
Crow told a psychosexual expert, who evaluated him on behalf of his attorney, that while he was in isolation, the conditions on the cruise ship were so deplorable that crew members died by suicide. He claimed that Princess cut off their television and limited their WI-FI. “We had no social contact. Two people killed themselves, but the cruise line didn’t want us to know about that so they cut off all of their news. We had no human interaction.” His father gave a history to the expert of Crow’ life on the cruise ship which he characterized as being a “prisoner.” “He was not allowed to even walk around the cruise ship. All he did was sit in his cabin and drink.” His father believed that this led to his son’s alcoholism, depression, and deviant behavior.
His father lamented that all his son had to do during this time period was to exchange text messages with other crew members who were also isolated in their cabins. (The identity of the other ship employees was not revealed and it is currently unknown how many other crew members other than Fernandes sent him pornography.)
Judge Martinez did not appear sympathetic to these arguments and sentenced Crow to three decades in prison, followed by supervision for life after his release from prison.
Sexual Abuse of Minors on Cruise Ships Remains A Problem
This is not the first time that an assistant cruise director has been caught sexually interacting with a minor.
Ten years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (“FBI”) arrested the assistant cruise director, 29 year-old Senad Djedovic, of the Norwegian Star cruise ship for engaging in sex with a 16 year old passenger and possessing child pornography. At the end of the cruise, he engaged in sex with her in a stairwell on the cruise. After the cruise, Djedovic exchanged emails with the girl which included explicit images and a video of him masturbating in front of a photo of the child.
A Disney youth counselor was arrested on charges of molesting a 10 year-old child on the Disney Magic in 2019.
Sexual assault of minors by both crew members and other guests remain an ongoing and largely undiscussed problem on cruise ships. Approximately one-third of the over one-hundred sexual assaults on cruise ships each year involve children.
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Sources for article:
- Complaint (Crow)
- Factual Proffer (Crow)
- Defendant’s Motion for Downward Departure (Crow)
- Expert Report in Support of Defendant’s Motion for Downward Departure (Crow)
- USA’s Response to Defendant’s Motion for Downward Departure/Downward Variance (Crow)
- Complaint (Fernandes)
- Factual Proffer (Fernandes)
- Defendant’s Motion for Downward Departure (Fernandes)
- USA’s Response to Defendant’s Objection to Presentence Report (Fernandes)
April 1, 2023 Update:
We have confirmed that the Coral Princess was in fact the cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises where Crow first met the minor girl. We have also updated this article with photographs of Crow on the Princess cruise ship from a crew member who wishes to remain anonymous. The Princess name tag (right photo) for Crow states:
“Dan, Assistant Cruise Director & USA.”
April 2, 2023 Update: We have received photographs of Fernandes and confirmed that he was employed by Princess Cruises as a Guest Activities officer.
April 3, 2023 Update:
Image credits: Daniel Crow and Anglo Fernandes – anonymous; Coral Princess – Reuters: Marco Bello via ABC Australia.
April 4, 2023 Update: Notwithstanding the serious and outrageous conduct that these two Princess Cruises’ officers have been convicted of, Princess Cruises has still not issued a press release of any type. Question – when will a major news organization cover these disturbing developments?
April 11, 2023 Update: