A woman was taken into custody by police when her cruise ship docked at PortMiami after police accused her of assaulting another passenger.
Kelli Lyn Ryan, 49, of Huntsville, Alabama, was charged with battery on a person 65 years old or older.
A person convicted of this charge in Florida is guilty of a third-degree felony and could face a prison sentence of up to five years and or a fine of up to $5,000.
The incident, which happened on Oct. 6 around 9:30 p.m., stemmed from a dispute aboard MSC’s Seascape in the ship’s theater. Police told reporters that there was surveillance footage of the altercation, which also allegedly involved Ryan’s son, Dylan Ryan. He was kicked off the ship when it docked in Jamaica for “excessive behavior,” according to reporting from local media.
Additional details including the extent of the injuries or what started the dispute were not immediately available Wednesday.
Leesfield & Partners
Under the Shipping Act of 1984, cruise ships are classified as common carriers. This means that they have a non-delegable duty to ensure the safety of their passengers from one stop to the next while they are traveling aboard the ship. This not only refers to their legal responsibility to provide a safe environment and take reasonable precautions to prevent accidents and injuries but also to protect passengers from the misconduct of others on board, including other passengers and the ship’s employees.
If an employee commits a crime against a passenger, the company is held strictly liable for not ensuring their standard of care.
Recently, Leesfield & Partners was retained to represent a client who was unknowingly filmed by a ship’s employee who planted hidden cameras in her private cabin bathroom while she vacationed on a cruise. That employee not only installed the cameras in our client’s cabin but also in the cabin of several others, including minors.
The employee, Arvin Joseph Mirasol, 34, of the Philippines, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in August by a U.S. District Court Judge after previously pleading guilty to producing child pornography. Mirasol, who worked as a stateroom attendant, servicing and cleaning cabins, had been an employee of the cruise line since at least December 2023. Federal Agents estimated the minor victims in the footage ranged from 2 to 17 years old, according to reporting from The New York Times.
That case is ongoing.
The issue, said the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, in an interview with the Daily Business Review, lies with the cruise industry’s “lax policing.”
“I do see an upward tick,” Mr. Leesfield said in the article. “But in all fairness, there are many more cruise passengers, and the cruise population is higher. So the numbers go up, particularly when the cruise population is up, but the enforcement and policing is down. So it’s sort of a perfect storm. And I think this will continue until the cruise lines get a program together.”
In another Leesfield & Partners case, attorneys secured a multi-million dollar settlement for a woman raped by a crewmember while she traveled on a cruise ship. The woman had been aboard the ship for a seven-day trip to the Eastern Caribbean to celebrate a friend’s wedding. When she went back to her room to nap, a crewmember entered using an employee keycard and attacked her.
The firm previously handled a case in which an innocent cruise ship passenger was suddenly descended upon by a violent group who beat up our client.
The Latest Data
The latest available data concerning crime aboard cruise ships shows a slight decrease from the first quarter of 2024, which ran from January to March. In that time, there were eight assaults with serious bodily injury, 16 sexual assaults, 16 rapes, and one missing persons case reported to the Department of Transportation.
In the second quarter, there was one suspicious death, about eight assaults with serious bodily injury, one missing person, nine sexual assaults and 16 rape cases.
In 2023, 131 sex crimes were reported to the FBI. This included 52 sexual assaults and 79 rapes on ships coming in and out of the United States. In 2022, a year where there was no differentiation between the two crimes, approximately 87 alleged sex crimes were reported.
If you or someone you know believes they may have an injury claim following an assault aboard a cruise ship docked in Florida, don’t wait. Call Leesfield & Partners today for a free consultation at 305-854-4900 or 800-836-6400.
For Mental Health help following an assault, know you are not alone. Help can be found by calling the 24-hour National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.