Sexual Assault and Exploitation

The Bermuda Sun reports today that a Princess Cruises crew member has been arrested for what is described as a "sex attack" on a woman on a cruise ship.   The newspaper identifies Filipino Johnwill Reyes Abdon, age 40, as the crew member who allegedly committed the crime. 

The incident occurred on the Caribbean Princess, a

Several newspapers in California are reporting that the FBI arrested a crew member aboard Celebrity Cruises’ Constellation on child-pornography charges after the cruise ship arrived at the Port of San Diego. 

According to the Union Tribune newspaper in San Diego, Amado Nicholas Hernandez, age 31, was employed by Celebrity Cruises as an audiovisual manager and provided onboard guest-entertainment services. 

I have written many articles about the high crime rates in many of the Caribbean islands frequented by cruise lines – Crime in Caribbean Ports of Call Against Cruise Passengers.  Consider the following articles in the last year alone: 

Antigua – Cruise Passengers Attacked & Robbed in Antigua While Cruise and Tourism Officials Meet and Passenger From Star

In May, we reported the arrest of a 30 year old bartender who was arrested after sexually assaulting a 14 year old passenger cruising with her parents on Carnival’s Freedom cruise ship – Carnival Cruise Ship Bartender Arrested On Charges Of Raping 14 Year Old Passenger.  

Today a Federal District Court Judge in Orlando sentenced cruise ship bartender, Hery Krispiyanto

Lucas G. Wickes, age 25, of Rochester New York pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl on January 1, 2007, on board the Disney cruise ship Disney Wonder after it left Port Canaveral for a Caribbean cruise.

The passenger approached the girl when she left a teen club on the cruise ship and ordered her to accompany him. The

On September 7th, Canada Border Services Agency officers nabbed crew member Edward Brillantes Mangubat after they searched his laptop computer and found sexually explicit movies featuring children.

Cunard - Queen Mary 2 - Pier 21 - HalifaxMangubat worked as a stagehand on Cunard’s cruise ship Queen Mary 2.  The Chronicle Herald reports that he had worked on cruise ships for seven years.

Today, Mangubat pleaded guilty and was sentenced to

The Chronicle Herald in Canada reports today that a crew member on a Carnival cruise ship which that visited Halifax was arrested and charged with smuggling child pornography into Canada.

Carnival Cruise Child PornographyThe newspaper indicates that 26-year-old crew member Nyoman Putra, an Indonesian working as an assistant room steward on the Carnival Glory, allegedly had child pornography on a

A frequent topic on Cruise Law News is the danger of sexual assault on cruise ships.  One of the problems we write about frequently is that the cruise lines do not conduct adequate background checks on their employees.  The cruise lines deny this, of course, and claim that they subject their crew members to rigorous pre-employment screening.

Kaloyan Kaloyanov - Carnival Cruise Line - Sexual AssaultWell, Carnival has

A number of articles published this weekend reveal the plight of young women sexually assaulted on foreign flagged cruise ships and cargo vessels.

Yesterday, in Cruise Rape – Is Royal Caribbean Up To Its Old Tricks?, we reported that a South African crew member claims that another crew member raped her on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.  The Captain of

A beauty therapist employed by Royal Caribbean reports that she was raped by another crew member, according to the Times Live newspaper in South Africa.   

The crew member, who is known by her first name, "Taryn," states that she was forced to leave the cruise industry after her ordeal aboard a cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean International.

Royal Caribbean Cruise - Rape - Cruise Ship - Sexual AssaultThe newspaper indicates that she was raped

We have blogged regularly about the danger of children being sexually abused on cruises, particularly aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships.  In our experience, if your child is going to be sexually abused during a cruise – the chances are likely it will occur on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

Here’s the latest example.

Last December, Sherwood Stevenson