Family claims Norwegian Cruise employee sexually assaulted 12-year-old daughter

[Zenica]

This news is perplexing to say the least.

He admits touching the child yet the jury found him not guilty.

I'd love to read the transcript from the case to see if the jury asked any questions during the deliberations and for how long they deliberated.

I also wonder, how did they manage a jury of his peers?

 

If my daughter came to me and told me this, their might have been two trials.....or perhaps just the one.

[CruisingUS]

No...we didn't cruise when she was younger. We started cruising within the last few years. She did go to the ships children's program a few times, did not care for it too much and opted to hang out with us...which is cool.

 

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Did you feel like your daughter was safe there with the kids program?

[ray98]

The bit about the affidavit is confusing. For evidence to be admitted in court and given to the jury it typically needs to be done in person. I’ve been involved in many court proceedings and never seen an affidavit submitted for evidence that crucial.

 

That makes me wonder if the jury even had that information as part of the trial.

 

 

The FBI usually have their agents submit a sworn affidavit to their role in an investigation because many times they end up testifying in state cases where they were in a support role as a federal agent. They simply detail what was uncovered in the investigation and the courts must later translate that to the relevant state statutes. It basically works like a standard police report for local agencies.

[newmexicoNita]

For ALL members of a jury to say NOT GUILTY one of 2 things must have happened. The defendant testified and the entire jury found him credible or "set up" by the parents. OR Something the prosecution offered into evidence was shady in the jury's eyes and the jury was having none of it. Its my experience that juries are very sympathetic to child victims. I don't like to speculate but 2 things are odd IMHO. First the statement of touching her buttocks. Could there really be some sort of logical explanation for this? Its hard to believe but I would want to know. The jury concluded the "touching" was innocent? Why did the parents leave a minor child alone in a cabin? The FBI statement that the worker asked if she wanted her room cleaned and then left but also agreed to touching. If the child was alone the worker could have done horrible things to the child but left after the child told him she did not want to room cleaned. Either a dangerous sex offender got away with something horrible or something innocent got turned into a nightmare. The jury concluded the later so I am curious. There really could be a logical explanation for this that we don't know about.

You and I must be the only ones that see it this way. As for leaving a 12 year old alone or allowing her to go back to the cabin to take a nap: I wee nothing wrong with this. The same room steward could touch a 16 year old as well as touching a 12 year old.

[newmexicoNita]

In response to leaving a 12-yo alone in a stateroom, IMO, leaving a 12-yo girl in your stateroom depends upon the maturity and behavior of the child. If it were my daughter, I would tell her to place the Do Not Disturb card in the door and double-lock the bolt on the door.

 

However, if she were immature, there is no way I would let her stay in the room alone. When I was 12, I used to babysit all the time for the same families, because they trusted me.

 

When my daughters were 12 and 14, the 12-yo got more babysitting jobs than the 14-yo. Just different personalities.

 

Parenting rules are not one-style fits all.

 

I am thinking just like you: there is no right or wrong age to allow a child to do something, Each personality is different.

[maggie cruises]

This news is perplexing to say the least.

He admits touching the child yet the jury found him not guilty.

I'd love to read the transcript from the case to see if the jury asked any questions during the deliberations and for how long they deliberated.

I also wonder, how did they manage a jury of his peers?

 

If my daughter came to me and told me this, their might have been two trials.....or perhaps just the one.

 

 

 

A jury of his peers?

 

That would be a jury of other adults...period.

 

 

 

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[mugtech]

A jury of his peers?

 

That would be a jury of other adults...period.

 

 

 

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Of course. Perhaps LeBron James could never get a fair trial, for a jury of his peers could not be found with 12 basketball players that would be in his class.

[billslowsky]

The bit about the affidavit is confusing. For evidence to be admitted in court and given to the jury it typically needs to be done in person. I’ve been involved in many court proceedings and never seen an affidavit submitted for evidence that crucial.

 

That makes me wonder if the jury even had that information as part of the trial.

 

I haven't read where the affidavit was entered into evidence, just that it existed. People get off when the prosecution makes a bad case.

[alalone1017]

Did you feel like your daughter was safe there with the kids program?

That's a tricky question for me..lol. As her mother..I was still really nervous. There was a lot of reassuring from my husband that she was fine and a lot of "this is where ill be.." "you won't let her leave on her own right?" And I was comforted in the fact that I completely forgot to add my mother in law on the account to be able to sign her out and they would not allow her to leave with her...For me...it was hard. And I will say on the last two cruises that we have been on..I was a little more comfortable that the majority of the staff were girls as well. My daughter is still super awkward around boys. She has only ever been in the care of family members or trusted family friends. She just recently within the last two years has gone to birthday parties without us...and to be honest...I worry. Maybe it's because she's an only child..maybe its because I don't trust strangers...I'm sure its because I was almost abducted when I was 15. I just feel at her age...she's still too young to be left alone. It works for us. This family just must not have the trust issues I do. That's ok...it just unfortunately led to a horrible thing happening and thankfully it was not worse. Being touched is bad enough.

 

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[maggie cruises]

Of course. Perhaps LeBron James could never get a fair trial, for a jury of his peers could not be found with 12 basketball players that would be in his class.

 

 

 

LeBron James is no different than any other human

 

A jury of your peers is 6 or 12 able adults ages 18 to I believe 70? Not senile...not infirm...not incapacitated ....males or females...US citizens ....that are not known or related to the defendant or plaintiff or the judge or the attorneys....or whoever else has a stake in the trial (as in no NCL employees) so there would be zero issue assembling a jury of his peers in this case

 

Let's stop playing games ok? We all know or should know what a jury of peers means and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that something happened that made this case unable to be prosecuted to a guilty verdict. That doesn't mean NCL is off the hook though.

 

Only a rabble rouser would say a jury of his peers would be 6 or 12 ncl Asian cabin stewards or 6 or 12 ridiculously overpaid people who throw a ball around.

 

 

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Edited January 13, 2018 by maggie cruises

[sanger727]

The FBI usually have their agents submit a sworn affidavit to their role in an investigation because many times they end up testifying in state cases where they were in a support role as a federal agent. They simply detail what was uncovered in the investigation and the courts must later translate that to the relevant state statutes. It basically works like a standard police report for local agencies.

 

 

 

While I understand what you are saying; a standard police report would hold little value in a jury trial. I doubt an affidavit would hold much more. When a case goes to trial, everything must be proven via sworn testimony. While the affidavit may technically be ‘sworn’; a piece of paper without a tape of the interview plus a person to authenticate it who is able to answer questions about context and the questioning process is not proper evidence. Especially not for something as important as a confession.

 

I don’t see how that would have been allowed in trial. An affidavit can’t testify to the legality of the interview in a motion to suppress.

 

I work in local law enforcement and am aware of the FBI’s reluctance to testify in local trials. While I wasn’t involved I know if a fairly large drug case that was thrown out because the officers involved the FBI and they wouldn’t agree to testify properly. (They agreed to appear but insisted on getting a list of questions ahead of time and wouldn’t answer anything not on the list.... that’s not feasible)

 

 

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[fshagan]

For ALL members of a jury to say NOT GUILTY one of 2 things must have happened.

 

Most criminal cases require a unanimous verdict, but I don't know if this would be tried in Federal or state court. If in state court it may have been for a charge that didn't require a unanimous verdict (not sure how Florida handles criminal cases). If unanimity is required for the crime, and one juror holds out for not guilty, the case could be declared a mistrial. If it's a mistrial, then the prosecutor can decide to try again or let the case go. If the prosecutor lets the case go the stupid media will say the defendant was "not guilty" as shorthand rather than explaining the case.

 

I'm in California and the last criminal case I was on there just wasn't enough evidence to find the guy guilty. He certainly looked guilty. The state just didn't prove it's burden. The people who started out saying he was guilty looked at the clock after four hours and then agreed that the guy was not guilty due to lack of evidence. They didn't want to come back another day. So it could have been a single juror who watched too much "CSI: Wonderland" on TV and thought because there weren't eye witnesses and DNA evidence it couldn't be proven.

 

I can't find the criminal case online at all. Has anyone found it?

[Two Wheels Only]

LeBron James is no different than any other human

 

...or 6 or 12 ridiculously overpaid people who throw a ball around.

If you take into account how much money he generates, LeBron James is actually underpaid by the Cavaliers and by his sponsors.

[DonTheRadioGuy]

Isn't the lawyer that's always suing cruise lines over flag of convenience issues?

[kirsty_r]

there is a big part of this missing.. Like why was someone who admitted the crime (according to a UK news report I read) found not guilty?? The missing part is probably the reason ncl haven't settled this yet...

[zqvol]

NCL must be leveraging the "not guilty" verdict in criminal trial... But we all know what happened in the OJ Simpson civil case. Really not enough information to understand why NCL is not trying to settle. To be honest...the amount the family is asking in the suit...really is minimal and I'm sure they would have settled for half of that amount if NCL made a offer.

 

How do you know NCL isn't trying to settle. Suit was just filed. The amount asked for is a jurisdictional pleading amount, and what it says is an amount not less than X number of $.

[Zenica]

 

Only a rabble rouser would say a jury of his peers would be 6 or 12 ncl Asian cabin stewards or 6 or 12 ridiculously overpaid people who throw a ball around.

 

 

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I only implied that the defendant might argue his peers are his countrymen, not ours.

[broberts]

Verdict doesn't make sense. I feel so bad for the young child.

 

We were not at the trial and did not see & hear all the evidence presented. Obviously the jury felt there was insufficient evidence to prove guilt of the crime charged. I trust juries to reach fair decisions far more than readers of a few sketchy descriptions in a news article or two.

[maggie cruises]

We were not at the trial and did not see & hear all the evidence presented. Obviously the jury felt there was insufficient evidence to prove guilt of the crime charged. I trust juries to reach fair decisions far more than readers of a few sketchy descriptions in a news article or two.

 

 

 

lol I dont trust juries to do the right thing at all. I've been on juries and during deliberations other jurors said they would NOT ever convict anyone of their own ethnicity or race period. Preponderance of evidence proving guilt was presented...nice isn't it?

 

The situation I was in fortunately never needed a verdict...the defendant took a plea shortly after we went out to deliberate.

 

 

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[lostone65]

It seems to me that NCL did the right thing when the family notified them on the ship that this happened, they detained him, at first opportunity had him removed from the ship, and called in law enforcement. The family has no evidence that NCL didn't do due diligence when checking the background on the room steward, it could be this person has never been accused or convicted in the past. Every criminal starts somewhere and it could be this was his first offense, or at the very least the first time he was caught. While I fell horrible for the child and her family, I despise the litigious culture we live in where everyone wants a monetary sum when they are wronged.

 

Oddly enough we were on this sailing. creepy to think about.

[CruisingUS]

That's a tricky question for me..lol. As her mother..I was still really nervous. There was a lot of reassuring from my husband that she was fine and a lot of "this is where ill be.." "you won't let her leave on her own right?" And I was comforted in the fact that I completely forgot to add my mother in law on the account to be able to sign her out and they would not allow her to leave with her...For me...it was hard. And I will say on the last two cruises that we have been on..I was a little more comfortable that the majority of the staff were girls as well. My daughter is still super awkward around boys. She has only ever been in the care of family members or trusted family friends. She just recently within the last two years has gone to birthday parties without us...and to be honest...I worry. Maybe it's because she's an only child..maybe its because I don't trust strangers...I'm sure its because I was almost abducted when I was 15. I just feel at her age...she's still too young to be left alone. It works for us. This family just must not have the trust issues I do. That's ok...it just unfortunately led to a horrible thing happening and thankfully it was not worse. Being touched is bad enough.

 

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Thanks for sharing this with me. I don't have children, and I will be cruising with friends who will have children. In the past I have worked with children that have been molested, raped, or beaten <|3. I also found out someone whom seemed very normal and is around children a lot was a registered sex offender who raped a <13 yo. I would have never known.

 

Do you know if the children program staff has had a background check?

[GUT2407]

We were not at the trial and did not see & hear all the evidence presented. Obviously the jury felt there was insufficient evidence to prove guilt of the crime charged. I trust juries to reach fair decisions far more than readers of a few sketchy descriptions in a news article or two.

There’s the answer.

 

I’m asked frequently “how did that result happen” without hearing, and seeing, all the evidence I can only guess, sometimes even if you’ve sat through the case you can still only guess.

[swedish weave]

In the US courts, it is very difficult for a company to avoid responsibility for the actions of their employees on company property.

 

Maybe the civil case will be different.

[alalone1017]

Thanks for sharing this with me. I don't have children, and I will be cruising with friends who will have children. In the past I have worked with children that have been molested, raped, or beaten <|3. I also found out someone whom seemed very normal and is around children a lot was a registered sex offender who raped a <13 yo. I would have never known.

 

Do you know if the children program staff has had a background check?

Good Lord I would hope so but its sad..I'm not really sure. The girls I saw in the kids camp looked very young..my husband laughed at me because I did ask one of them how old they were..she was very sweet and laughed and assured me she was an adult. My daughter just wasn't into the kids camps. We're very fortunate that our daughter still thinks were cool and likes to hang out with us. I'm also very fortunate that when we cruise its usually with one of our parents. So we still do have an opportunity to go on a "date night." I have friends that love the camps and their kids love the camps. So much so that the kids get sad when they have to hang out with the parents..lol. This last cruise we went on though it was crazy the amount of young teens were off in corners after dark making out and stuff. I just asked my daughter to never be that girl..that kinda freaked me out..lol

 

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[Zenica]

This is why our au pair is coming with on the next cruise. Not that the Splash Academy staff ever gave me pause, best to err on the side of caution.