HAL Worker Receives 30 Years for Violent Attack

[cbr663]

An update to the violent attack on the NA last year. The HAL employee has been sentenced to 30 years and 5 months in prison. Details here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/crime/fl-cruise-ship-attack-sentenced-20150107-story.html

Edited January 8, 2015 by cbr663

[sail7seas]

I'm happy he will be severely punished.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am also happy to hear this.

Feel so sorry for the woman who went through all that.

[solocanadian]

I too am happy he will be severely punished.

[sapper1]

It will give him time to reflect on what he did.

[TiogaCruiser]

I'm glad he. Got more than the minimum and recommended sentances.

 

How horrible that must have been for his wife and mother. But even more, how horrible for the victim.

 

Thanks for posting the outcome.

[PathfinderEss]

I'm glad to see the judge double his sentence because of the heinous nature of the attack, but would take bets that he won't serves out all 30 years before he is let out of prison.

[sammiedawg]

If he is in the federal prison system and it appears he is, he will serve at least 85 per cent of his sentence. There is lots of blog discussion about the federal prison system because of Teresa Guidice, real housewife of New Jersey, she is in a federal prison and must serve 85 per cent of her sentence.

For this creep 85 per cent is not long enough. He ruined a young woman's life.

Does anyone know what Other HAL ships he served on? Every time I see his picture I pause, he looks vaguely familiar.

[serendipity1499]

Glad he received a stiff sentence for this heinous crime.. 85% of his sentence guarantees he must serve at least 25 1/2 years..

 

I too feel sorry for his Mother & his Wife but my sympathies are more for the victim, who will live with this the rest of her life..

Edited January 8, 2015 by serendipity1499

[peaches from georgia]

This sentence may have saved his wife and mother's lives, we'll never know. Anyone who was capable of doing what he did to a stranger could very well do this to someone close to him for any reason or no reason. It may not even be the first time he used such violence on another person but got away with it.

[Himself]

It will give him a long time reflect on the evil he committed.

[erewhon]

Thank you for the link.

 

The victim was courageous to attend court.

[world~citizen]

It will give him a long time reflect on the evil he committed.

 

Is he evil or sick?

 

I don't know if I believe in evil but I believe in sick. If mentally ill, I hope he gets help - suspect he won't.

 

To the victim, what can you say? We are all just so happy she is alive. I hope she can find peace. She is amazing, and deserves it.

 

It seems the perpetrator won't be able to do this again. Thank goodness.

 

Looks like cruise lines have to look more closely at their psychological assessments of prospective cruise staff.

[TiogaCruiser]

This sentence may have saved his wife and mother's lives, we'll never know. Anyone who was capable of doing what he did to a stranger could very well do this to someone close to him for any reason or no reason. It may not even be the first time he used such violence on another person but got away with it.

 

Agreed. I couldn't find the words earlier, to express the same.

[cbr663]

I am also happy for the long sentence. There is little doubt in my mind that this was a well thought out and planned attack. I read that the perpetrator was surprised by how strong his victim was. As terrifying as the attack was, I think that fighting back was what saved this young woman's life.

[HamOp]

It's my understanding that people who commit this type of crime are not well liked by the general population of prison.

 

I think he'll find himself a nice "boy-friend" for his stay. He's earned it.

[RJ2002]

Good to see this was settled. I suspect this news will get around in crew circles, across all cruise lines. Hopefully it will send a message that crimes committed onboard will not go unpunished, and that more can be at risk than simply a one-way return trip to the crew member's home country.

[solocanadian]

It's my understanding that people who commit this type of crime are not well liked by the general population of prison.

 

I think he'll find himself a nice "boy-friend" for his stay. He's earned it.

Hear, Hear!!!:p

[Himself]

Is he evil or sick?

 

I don't know if I believe in evil but I believe in sick. If mentally ill, I hope he gets help - suspect he won't.

 

To the victim, what can you say? We are all just so happy she is alive. I hope she can find peace. She is amazing, and deserves it.

 

It seems the perpetrator won't be able to do this again. Thank goodness.

 

Looks like cruise lines have to look more closely at their psychological assessments of prospective cruise staff.

 

The act itself was evil. One's culpability before God could be mitigated somewhat in the case of insanity or grave mental illness.

[bcd2010]

Looks like cruise lines have to look more closely at their psychological assessments of prospective cruise staff.

 

From the article:

...Pujayasa endured a "difficult and traumatic childhood," ... he grew up in extreme poverty in a violent household... Pujayasa's father ... was physically violent and verbally abusive to Pujayasa and his mother...Pujayasa's father once "almost killed him with a butcher knife" and "hit him with a bundle of roof tiles" on another occasion...

He learned to be violent and to abusively dominate women from early in his life. A deep psychological assessment might reveal a problem - I don't know how much they (the cruise lines) delve into such things. I'm not a psychologist and if there is someone very knowledgeable about whether this could be discovered in a typical pre-hiring interview and assessment, perhaps s/he could let us know. I do know that abused children can become masters at hiding it.

 

I hope I don't need to say this but just in case: I am not excusing, condoning or mitigating his horrible actions, just addressing the quoted comment.

Edited January 10, 2015 by bcd2010

[babyher]

The act itself was evil. One's culpability before God could be mitigated somewhat in the case of insanity or grave mental illness.

 

 

 

 

Either way he should be locked up for the rest of his life.

[world~citizen]

From the article:

...Pujayasa endured a "difficult and traumatic childhood," ... he grew up in extreme poverty in a violent household... Pujayasa's father ... was physically violent and verbally abusive to Pujayasa and his mother...Pujayasa's father once "almost killed him with a butcher knife" and "hit him with a bundle of roof tiles" on another occasion...

He learned to be violent and to abusively dominate women from early in his life. A deep psychological assessment might reveal a problem - I don't know how much they (the cruise lines) delve into such things. I'm not a psychologist and if there is someone very knowledgeable about whether this could be discovered in a typical pre-hiring interview and assessment, perhaps s/he could let us know. I do know that abused children can become masters at hiding it.

 

I hope I don't need to say this but just in case: I am not excusing, condoning or mitigating his horrible actions, just addressing the quoted comment.

 

Points well taken.

 

I suppose in a perfect world the victim would be made whole, the public would be protected and the perpetrator would receive whatever treatment necessary to address what appears to my layman's perspective to be serious mental illness. I do not have the expertise to make that evaluation, nor to know what is in the mind of God in this regard.

 

The relevant point for cruisers, I think, is that our favourite lines may have to look at the psychological screening process that I would imagine is part of their mandatory pre-employment medical they give their staff. Quite aside from the fact that this would be the proper (ethical) thing to do, there might be liability issues as well.

 

Our hearts go out to the victim. We hope that this will never happen again. To the family of the perpetrator - you also have lost more than we can imagine.

 

There has been suffering all around here. Lets not repeat it.

[ScriptOhio]

New newspaper account (i.e. update of an appeal)....

 

Cruise ship worker gets more than 30 years, again, for attacking passenger

A former cruise ship worker who sexually assaulted and tried to kill a passenger told a judge Tuesday that he is having a tough time dealing with the violence he sees every day in prison.

 

Pujayasa has spent the last year or more at a federal prison in Texas that is nicknamed "Bloody Beaumont" because of its violent reputation, Assistant Federal Public Defender Chantel Doakes told the judge.

 

Despite that, Pujayasa has taken advantage of every educational and self-improvement opportunity in prison, she said, including taking anger-management courses.

 

Pujayasa told the judge he knew he deserved to be punished but begged for mercy and said he dreaded returning to the Texas prison: "Every day, I have to witness people fighting and I have to protect and take care of myself in the troubles that come to me."

 

Pujayasa was previously sentenced to 30 years and five months for aggravated sexual assault and attempted murder but he was back in federal court in Miami on Tuesday to be re-sentenced.

 

An appeals court ruled earlier this year that the judge did not adequately explain his reasons for imposing a more severe punishment than the 14 to 17 1/2 years recommended by sentencing guidelines. Those guidelines are intended to make sure people get similar punishments for similar crimes.

 

U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez imposed the same punishment — 30 years and five months — on Tuesday but explained his reasons in greater detail.

 

He said the extra punishment was appropriate because Pujayasa's actions were so extreme and the effect on the victim was so severe, leaving her with post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and physical and cognitive difficulties caused by her injuries.

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/browa ... story.html

[hrhdhd]

That's a waste of taxpayer money to write a couple of paragraphs explaining the extreme nature of the crime and its effects.

[cbr663]

I am so glad that the sentence wasn't reduced.