A dancer employed on an unidentified cruise ship was recently arrested in Broward County on one charge of possession of child pornography and a second count of receipt and distribution of child pornography.

Twenty-six year old Jamaal Wade appeared in federal court in Fort Lauderdale in case number 0:24-mj-06151-PMH. A special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) verified in a complaint alleging violation of 18 USC 2252A that Wade engaged in prior criminal sexual abuse of a child, in addition to the following criminal acts of possessing and distributing graphic images of child pornography, to wit:

• In August 2023. Wade sent another Telegraph user “eight videos” containing child sexual abuse materials “involving minors as young as two years old engaged in sexual acts with adults,” adding “I have way more.”

• At some time after October 2023, Wade met with the person who he has previously sent child pornography videos to via the Telegram app, and they watched child sexual abuse videos together at his apartment on 172nd street in Washington Heights, New York.

• On January 14, 2024, Wade sent a video depicting child sexual abuse materials, to a covert FBI agent operating a Telegram account, involving an underage boy, noting “that the child depicted in the video is 11 or 12 years old,” adding that he “has a ton of videos.”

• On January 23, 2024, Wade sent the FBI covert agent eight videos depicting male children “between the ages of approximately four and eight years old engaged in (graphic) sexual activities . . . with adult males.”

• Wade was was previously arrested in Detroit, Michigan in February of 2020 for “rubbing the penis of an 11-year-old boy” while on a tour for a performance group before he worked on a cruise ship. (The FBI agent indicated that he reviewed records from the Detroit Police Department regarding this crime). The OnStage Blog “noted that the show would have put him in direct contact with children both in the show and attending performances.”

The FBI agent indicated that Wade is a professional dancer “currently employed” on board a cruise ship, which was not identified. On March 22, 2024, Wade communicated with an undercover FBI agent via a Telegram app and indicated that he “brought his collection” of child sexual abuse materials “on board the ship.”

A local news station, Miami Local 10 News, reported that “court documents do not specify which cruise line employed him at the time of his arrest; a profile of Wade states he has worked for both Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines.” The criminal court records do not identify the particular cruise line which last employed Wade. However, the file does indicate that one unidentified cruise line, which the FBI contacted, verified that he worked on a cruise ship as late as two weeks ago. Since he was arrested in Broward County (but his permanent residence is in New York), he may have been arrested when the cruise ship where he worked returned to Port Everglades.

The fact that this child pervert and predator worked on cruise ships raises the fundamental and disturbing recurrent question: did any of the cruise lines require any type of background check be performed before Wade was hired to work on one of their cruise ships?

And why would the FBI refuse to identify this pedophile’s cruise line employer, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean or some other company?

Wade could face up to 20 years in prison on each count if convicted.

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April 13, 2024 Update:

Wade’s Facebook page indicates that he was working as a dancer on a Holland America Line cruise ship. He worked for Royal Caribbean from 2017 to 2019 and for Norwegian Cruise Line before then.

Image credit: Image of Jamaal Wade and criminal court filings – USA v. JAMAAL WADE case number 0:24-mj-06151-PMH, Federal District Court Southern District of Florida (Fort Lauderdale FL) and Local 10 News (Miami).

April 18, 2024 Update:

Two individuals, with knowledge of performances and the hiring of dancers on HAL and other cruise lines, who both wish to remain anonymous, inform me that a third party was responsible for hiring Mr. Wade. They identified RWS Global as the company which hires dancers and other performers on HAL cruise ships and designs and produces the show performances at sea.

RWS’ portfolio lists a number of cruise lines and cruise ships such as MSC Cruises (MSC World Europa), Marella Cruises, P&O Cruises, Cunard Cruises, and TUI Group, in addition to HAL Cruises (Step One Dance Company).

RWS reportedly does not perform background checks into sexual misconduct of the performers who they hire to work on cruise ships. It does not appear that HAL conduct any type of background check on dancers/performers at all. This may explain how Mr. Wade was permitted to work on a cruise ship, notwithstanding the fact that he had been arrested in Detroit for sexually molesting an 11 year-old boy according to a verified complaint filed in the criminal case filed against Mr. Wade.

We contacted RWS and requested whether it performed a background check before it hired Mr. Wade and whether it terminated him after his arrest. RWS has not responded to our questions.