A cruise ship youth counselor has admitted to law enforcement that he sexually abused multiple children aboard a cruise ship, according to an FBI affidavit obtained by the Miami New Times.
Cris John Pentinio Castor has been charged in Miami federal court with abusive sexual contact with a minor, the newspaper reported. His public defender has been contacted for comment via email.
A 6-year-old girl reported that Castor had sexually abused her while she played a video game in the youth center aboard the Celebrity Silhouette, the FBI affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, the child returned with her parents to report the alleged assault shortly after they picked her up from the youth center on November 27.
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The child “proceeded to tell the Program Manager that ‘CJ,’ as Castor was known to crew members and Youth Center children, had inappropriately touched her ‘private parts,'” the affidavit said.
The Celebrity Silhouette had departed from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on November 20, making stops in St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Tobago, Grenada, and Antigua before returning on November 30.
After the ship returned to Port Everglades, the child told a forensic interviewer that Castor touched her underneath her clothes. Security footage from November 27 showed the girl and Castor sitting next to each other as he reached over into her lap, the New Times reported.
Castor, who had worked as a counselor for the ship’s Camp at Sea program since August, told law enforcement that he “knowingly touched the minor victim in the vicinity of her vagina,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit said he allegedly told investigators that he molested at least three other children while they were visiting the youth center.
Castor “admitted to the inappropriate sexual touching of other minor children that were in his care at the Youth Center, on multiple occasions, while consciously hiding his acts from the Youth Center’s security cameras,” the affidavit said.
The Celebrity Silhouette is operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Group.
A spokesperson for Celebrity Cruises told the New Times that the company reported the incident to law enforcement and terminated Castor’s employment.
Newsweek has contacted the company and the FBI for further comment via email.
According to a database maintained by the Department of Transportation, 87 alleged sexual assaults were reported on cruise ships last year.
The data shows most of the reported assaults last year occurred on ships operated by cruise lines with the biggest market share of passengers, Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean, with 31 and 22 respectively. One sexual assault was reported on a ship operated by Celebrity Cruises, which has a fleet of 16 ships, last year.
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