Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
A Texas man who allegedly raped a woman on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas faced sexual battery charges and was taken into police custody when the ship docked in Fort Lauderdale over the weekend, officials say.
The alleged attack took place on Aug. 28 with a 20-year-old woman stating to police that she was raped mid-cruise by the man.
The man, 28, was granted a $20,000 bond.
This incident follows news of an over $12 million settlement in a case in which a Carnival Cruise Line employee was accused of sexually assaulting a passenger during a 2018 voyage. The 21-year-old passenger in that case alleged she was lured into a closet by the crewmember where the attack took place.
The crewmember in that case has yet to face any charges, according to reporting from The New York Post.
Cruise Crime
In numbers recorded every quarter for cruise lines coming in and out of the United States, the Department of Transportation has reported a decrease in crime on cruise ships.
The data shows there have been about eight assaults with serious bodily injury, one suspicious death, one missing person, nine sexual assaults and 16 rape cases aboard ships reported to authorities for the second quarter of 2024. As required by the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, cruise lines are required to report criminal activity to the FBI. These incidents include sexual assaults, rapes, missing persons, physical; assaults, property crimes and other alleged criminal activity.
The first quarter of 2024 ran from January to March and reported eight assaults with serious bodily injury, 16 sexual assaults, 16 rapes and one missing persons case. This marked a small decrease from 47 to 36 total reported incidents of criminal activity aboard ships.
In 2023, there were 131 sex crimes reported to the FBI including 52 sexual assaults and 79 rapes happening on ships embarking and disembarking to and from the United States. In 2022 data, there were a total of 87 alleged sex crimes. The separate reporting categories for the two crimes began in 2023.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners attorneys have been staunch advocates for increased safety measures aboard cruise ships over the years. With an office just 20 minutes from Port Miami where millions of passengers travel to board their cruises every year, attorneys with the firm have noticed several trends associated with the growing industry. One such concern includes not enough policing to ensure the safety of passengers and insufficient training and vetting of crewmembers. With Florida being such a popular vacation destination and a hub for the thriving cruise ship industry, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have been privy to numerous harrowing cases of sexual crimes taking place aboard these ships and the neglect of those in charge tasked with the safety of passengers.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys previously represented a Canadian woman traveling alone who was raped by a cruise crewmember. A multi-million settlement was secured for the woman in that case.
Bernardo Pimentel II, a Trial Lawyer with the firm, was recently obtained to represent a woman who was filmed in her private stateroom bathroom while traveling on a cruise ship. The cameras are alleged to have been installed in various private bathrooms in the cabins of passengers by a crewmember who filmed the woman and other passengers, some of whom are minors.
Litigation in that case is ongoing.
In addition to sexual crimes aboard cruise ships, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, has worked closely with numerous organizations dedicated to the prevention, education, awareness and other services related to cases of physical and or sexual abuse. Through his family’s charitable organization, The Leesfield Family Foundation, partnerships have been formed with women’s and children’s initiatives such as Kristi House, Voices for Children Foundation, Women in Distress, the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County and more.
Other cases involving sexual crimes handled by the firm include an $8.6 million recovery obtained following a well-known summer camp’s ignorance of a counselor’s apparent and sexually predatory behavior toward campers.
A multi-million settlement was obtained by attorneys with the firm after a teacher harassed and sexually abused young boys at a popular Florida high school.
Crime-related cases handled by Leesfield & Partners have resulted in over $250,000,000 in verdicts and settlements in 48 years of practice, bringing economic justice to survivors and victims from all over the country.
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
