Trouble Aboard the Dream

[Dixie Springs]

Via Post-Newsweek:


Disney Cruise Line fails to promptly report molestation of 11-year-old girl in port

Suspect escorted off ship in the Bahamas, sent back to India.

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. -
More than two hours before the Disney Dream left port here last August, a Disney Cruise Line crewmember was captured on ship surveillance video molesting an 11-year-old girl in an elevator – a crime Disney Cruise Line said it believes it must by law report immediately.

But a Local 6 investigation reveals the incident was not reported until the next day, long after the ship had slipped out of port, enabling the 33-year-old suspect to evade investigation and prosecution by Florida authorities.

Disney Cruise Line at first claimed last week it did report the crime while the ship was still in port on Aug. 5. Then, after being told by Local 6 and Port Canaveral police that was not true, the cruise line changed its account.

Company officials then claimed employees did not know until the next day that a crime was committed. All they knew on Aug. 5, they claim, was that the child was made to feel “uncomfortable,” according to statements by the cruise line to both Local 6 and the Port Canaveral police.

But, based on surveillance video and a confidential Disney Cruise Line security incident report obtained by Local 6, that also appears to be false.

The report reveals cruise line security began its investigation of the molestation – which it called an “inappropriate sexual act” -- at 3:22 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5.

The child promptly told security the man had repeatedly grabbed her breast through her clothes and forcibly kissed her on the mouth as he cornered her in an elevator on the Disney Dream.

She “began to cry,” the report stated, as she relayed how the crew member “went like this,” grabbing her breast, and “then went like this,” demonstrating a second groping before “he kiss me here and he put mouth on my mouth.”

Such an attack, even through clothing, is under Florida law a lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, a felony punishable by 25 years to life in prison.

Port Canaveral police chief Joseph Hellebrand said his department can investigate and refer for prosecution such crimes on ships. Anything that occurs within 1,000 feet of its shoreline, as this incident did with the Dream tied to dock, is at least in part port jurisdiction, Hellebrand said.

But Port Canaveral police were prevented from investigating because Disney Cruise Line, or DCL, did not report the crime immediately, as Hellebrand said they should.

Had DCL done so, the chief said, “We would have sent an officer aboard the ship, we would have notified the (on-call) detective, we would have interviewed the family, the victim, the suspect,” and, if warranted, arrested the dining room server.

Disney Cruise Line’s actions prevented that from happening, though a DCL spokeswoman told Local 6 Monday it “took proper action” in handling the case.

Again, they claim they did not know a crime occurred until after the ship left port.

But the company’s own confidential incident report provides more evidence that is not true.

Eight minutes after the molestation -- and two hours before the ship departed -- the victim and her grandmother emerged from the elevator at 3:03 p.m. and headed toward the guest services counter, where they reported the incident. Security was contacted and initiated the investigation at 3:22 p.m., followed promptly by the child relaying the criminal allegations to a cruise security officer.

At 3:57 p.m., the 11-year-old from Brazil led the officer to the spot where she encountered the suspect and “appeared to be uncomfortable when she walked me to the elevator where (the crew member) touched and kissed her,” the officer wrote in her report.

The security officer then retrieved and reviewed the video of the elevator lobby outside the car where the attack occurred and confirmed the actions of a uniformed crew member were consistent with the 11-year-old’s retelling of the story.

At 4:48 p.m., the video was shown to a dining manager, who identified the suspect by name and position, a dining room server from India.

At 5:02 p.m., the Disney Dream left its berth at Port Canaveral, as if nothing criminal had occurred.

The suspect continued to roam the ship until 7:50 p.m., when he was called to the security office and, under questioning, denied molesting the girl, according to the DCL report. He was then “removed from the floor” and, apparently, kept from encountering children.

After another unsuccessful attempt to get him to confess on Aug. 6, he was questioned after the ship arrived in Nassau on Aug. 7 by Bahamian authorities, who assumed jurisdiction of the investigation because the Disney Dream is flagged in the Bahamas.

In a statement to Bahamas Police, the suspect, Milton Braganza, finally admitted “I touched her on her right breast with my left hand.”

But by then – two days into a five-day Disney cruise – the victim’s grandmother had decided she did not want the crime investigated. DCL would not say if it refunded any or all of the family’s cruise expenses.

Had Florida law enforcement immediately been informed of the potential life felony and found probable cause, Hellebrand said the suspect would have been arrested, regardless of a victim’s grandmother’s wishes.

But the rules are different in the Bahamas.

The suspect was removed from the ship and taken to an airport, where Disney arranged for his passage back to India, his home country. The company said it paid his expenses, honoring a standard contract provision to cover transportation costs of employees returned to their home nations.

Federal law generally requires cruise lines to report certain crimes to the FBI “as soon as possible.” Sexual contact with a minor, even touching of breasts through clothes, is one of those crimes. But there are exceptions to the law when neither the suspect nor victim is a U.S. citizen, or when the ship is in state waters. It appears both exceptions applied in this case.

There are also often overlapping jurisdictional issues in cruise crimes, depending on the nationalities of the parties involved, the location of the ship, the ports its departs from and arrives at, and the country whose flag it sails under.

The Disney Dream is flagged in the Bahamas, so that county can assert jurisdiction even when the ship is in an American port, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. But so can federal and state or local authorities – again, depending on the circumstances.

Regardless of the law, DCL said last week its policy is to report all crimes as soon as possible to various authorities, including port police.

When DCL did notify Port Canaveral police of the crime, on Aug. 6, chief Hellebrand said the department assigned a detective to meet the ship when it returned on Friday Aug. 10, assuming the victim and suspect would be made available.

But Disney Cruise Line and Bahamian authorities had other plans.

“We would want to investigate that crime because it occurred here, regardless of whether somebody else took over that investigation,” Hellebrand said.

Asked if he would have given the suspect a ride to the airport and put him on a plane to India, the chief replied, “No. We would not have.”

[Tekneek]

This is a news story that could end up being real bad for Disney. Failure to comply with these kinds of laws could be serious, especially if it is found to be intentional.

[SandmanGStefani24]

major problem with all cruise lines, being that they are flagged out of random countries to avoid minimum wage laws, and ect. its basically like being overseas, you check your rights and expectations at the gates when you leave..its all fun until something goes wrong..

[BrerGnat]

This type of crime of opportunity happens a lot on cruise ships, unfortunately. It's nothing new. I remember when we took our first cruise on the S.S. Norway, back in 1991, I was 12 and my mom drilled into my sisters and I the importance of staying together and being aware of possible "bad apples" among the passengers and crew.

I don't like the way Disney Cruise line handled this, though. I would have probably called the cops myself from my cell phone in port, but this family was not from here, so I can see how this wasn't an option for them. I suppose they felt they did their job by reporting it.

DCL knows the laws, and like every other cruise line, they use them to their advantage as much as possible.

The fact that the family didn't want to press charges is also odd. But again, I don't know what country they are from and what the culture dictates.

The good news is that this guy is off the Disney Ships. The bad news is, he is walking free in India.

[BrerGnat]

This is a news story that could end up being real bad for Disney. Failure to comply with these kinds of laws could be serious, especially if it is found to be intentional.

I agree with you in general. However, this story was turned up by a journalist who investigates and follows cruise crimes. He had to dig around and find this since it had been filed away as a closed case. So, *technically*, Disney did nothing wrong. Shady, yes. Legally wrong? No.

Stepping onto a cruise ship carries some risks that you don't generally encounter on land in the U.S.A. It's something every cruiser needs to be aware of.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I smell cover up by Disney... It is more important to get that cruise ship out of port on time and thus avoid hefty fines than take the proper channels and call local law enforcement...

Oh and even if the grandmother didn't want to go ahead with any criminal complaint, the law in Florida (and really anywhere in the U.S.) states the perp gets arrested and charged anyway because of the age of the minor... With that said, the grandmother is Brazilian so maybe she felt it was not worth their time and effort to go forward with any criminal complaint in the U.S. or Disney did what they do best: buy their silence...

[Ian]

My Momma always told me if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all ...

[Tekneek]

I agree with you in general. However, this story was turned up by a journalist who investigates and follows cruise crimes. He had to dig around and find this since it had been filed away as a closed case. So, *technically*, Disney did nothing wrong. Shady, yes. Legally wrong? No.

Stepping onto a cruise ship carries some risks that you don't generally encounter on land in the U.S.A. It's something every cruiser needs to be aware of.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about the intricacies of maritime law. Were this to happen inside WDW, for instance, there could be some arrests happening.

[Tekneek]

T
The fact that the family didn't want to press charges is also odd. But again, I don't know what country they are from and what the culture dictates.

Given the way this all went down, I wouldn't be surprised if pressing charges was made to seem unappealing to them in some way.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about the intricacies of maritime law. Were this to happen inside WDW, for instance, there could be some arrests happening.

Except this was reported to security two hours before the ship pulled out of port... This happened while still in the U.S. and considered on U.S. soil... They had every right to contact local law enforcement... They chose not to... Disney was totally and completely in the wrong...

[BrerGnat]

Except this was reported to security two hours before the ship pulled out of port... This happened while still in the U.S. and considered on U.S. soil... They had every right to contact local law enforcement... They chose not to... Disney was totally and completely in the wrong...

The guilty party was not positively identified until about 12 minutes before the cruise was scheduled to depart. At that point in the game, it's questionable if the captain even got wind of the situation yet or not. The dining manager was the one who ID'ed the guy after seeing video.

The laws are written very vaguely, and as Disney employees are not mandated reporters, they were not obligated to report this crime. The family should have been given the option to phone local police from the ship immediately. Clearly, authorities were not contacted immediately. This seems to be where/how DCL dropped the ball. If this had been an American, I am willing to bet the family would have simply called police fron their cell phone before even reporting the incident.

The cruise contract actually states that any legal action you bring against DCL or its employees will happen in the Bahamas. I probably would not want to go through that either. No guarantee of a fair and impartial trial at that point.

[DizneyFreak2002]

The guilty party was not positively identified until about 12 minutes before the cruise was scheduled to depart. At that point in the game, it's questionable if the captain even got wind of the situation yet or not. The dining manager was the one who ID'ed the guy after seeing video.

The laws are written very vaguely, and as Disney employees are not mandated reporters, they were not obligated to report this crime. The family should have been given the option to phone local police from the ship immediately. Clearly, authorities were not contacted immediately. This seems to be where/how DCL dropped the ball. If this had been an American, I am willing to bet the family would have simply called police fron their cell phone before even reporting the incident.

The cruise contract actually states that any legal action you bring against DCL or its employees will happen in the Bahamas. I probably would not want to go through that either. No guarantee of a fair and impartial trial at that point.

Crew members don't have radios? They couldn't radio to the captain there was a crime committed? Please... this was negligence pure and simple... They didn't want to:

1) get fined for not leaving on time
2) get bad publicity

They knew a crime was committed TWO HOURS before the ship was to depart... Who cares how long it took to identify the perv? Two hours is plenty of enough time to inform the captain there was a problem, and to involve the local law enforcement... They were negligent... End of story...

[Dixie Springs]

I agree. While incidents like this can happen anywhere, it's the subsequent action (or inaction) that bothers me. Sometimes priorities are upside-down.

When that little string of predatory water park incidents occured a while ago, I believe Disney took appropriate action, despite their bristling PR folks. This one, however, had immediate business ramifications (departure delays, etc.), and bad decisions were made (IMHO).

It's a shame travel to the Bahamas is required to sue, because this one has legs (as opposed to other Disney lawsuits). Maybe criminal neglegence charges will be filed, and Disney lawyers will get the burden of travel.

Still, a better overall record than Carnival!

[Tekneek]

I have to say that looking into this has been very enlightening for me. I am less interested in ever going on a cruise.