Sexual predators at sea

[pjacobi]

CNN interview with teen attacked in cabin on board RCCL.


http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2012/07/10/ac-griffin-sexual-predators-at-sea.cnn


-Paul

 

[kcashner]

This shouldn't surprise anyone. I can tell you the DCL takes inappropriate behavior from guests toward other guests very seriously (at least when the individual involved has a history of bad behavior on the ship.) Unfortunately, the shoreside enforcement agencies are not so aggressive.

 

[lady9]

That is very disturbing!!!

 

[Mike&JanHuff]

I can not even imagine... they should probably thank their lucky stars someone didn't toss them overboard before they could be handed over to the law...

 

[nkochrn]

This is so disturbing and is the one thing that I actually worry about with taking my children on a cruise and leaving them in a youth club.

I would hope DCL does extensive background checks especially on CM who will have so much contact with children. The scary thing is that sometimes the people that have nothing bad in their background haven't been caught or committed their first offense. Sometimes the guilty person is the last person you would suspect of such a thing too.

 

[Chim]

This is so disturbing and is the one thing that I actually worry about with taking my children on a cruise and leaving them in a youth club.

I would hope DCL does extensive background checks especially on CM who will have so much contact with children. The scary thing is that sometimes the people that have nothing bad in their background haven't been caught or committed their first offense. Sometimes the guilty person is the last person you would suspect of such a thing too.

You have nothing to worry about, for the children are never alone with any adults. And the security in place to make sure your children are tracked and only in your care was amazing. Don't worry and have fun!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

This is so disturbing and is the one thing that I actually worry about with taking my children on a cruise and leaving them in a youth club.

I would hope DCL does extensive background checks especially on CM who will have so much contact with children. The scary thing is that sometimes the people that have nothing bad in their background haven't been caught or committed their first offense. Sometimes the guilty person is the last person you would suspect of such a thing too.

Yes. And as the experts in the story stated, even crew members who have been reported aren't necessarily prosecuted so there would be nothing in that person's background to show on a background check by another cruise line.

I also picked up on the bit about how US-based ships are required to report any crimes that occur on their ships. I'm no expert by any stretch but I'm pretty sure US-based = US-registered. How many ships are registered in the US? None of Disney's are. It's a very small percentage of cruise ships that are because of the financials involved. So this would mean that all those ships are NOT subject to this requirement to report crime that occurs onboard. I hope someone comes along and says this is NOT one & the same but I'm afraid it just might be.

I think the cruises are just like any other vacation where you have to not let yourself get so caught up that you aren't exercising the usual caution and awareness when it comes to safety and the safety of your loved ones. In the case of this girl in the video, I'm sure both she and her family felt she was perfectly safe locked in her own stateroom. Bless her heart.

 

[ThePicketts]

This is so disturbing and is the one thing that I actually worry about with taking my children on a cruise and leaving them in a youth club.

I would hope DCL does extensive background checks especially on CM who will have so much contact with children. The scary thing is that sometimes the people that have nothing bad in their background haven't been caught or committed their first offense. Sometimes the guilty person is the last person you would suspect of such a thing too.

They are crazy careful with who is allowed to check you child out of their care. No worries and don't be the tiniest stressed.

 

[nkochrn]

You have nothing to worry about, for the children are never alone with any adults. And the security in place to make sure your children are tracked and only in your care was amazing. Don't worry and have fun!

Thanks, that is reassuring to hear!

 

[nkochrn]

They are crazy careful with who is allowed to check you child out of their care. No worries and don't be the tiniest stressed.

Oh, I wasn't a bit worried about them being taken out by someone else, it was more of trusting someone I've never met before to take care of my kids. I know of a Private school daycare within an hour of us that the manager of was arrested. I don't remember his exact crime, but I know it was something sexually related.

 

[mom_rules]

I saw that also. I do agree with what they said about parents feeling a false sense of security on a cruise ship and allowing their kids to roam freely (I've experienced this first hand on several occasions on DCL). Parents need to exercise the same amount of caution as they would if they took their kids to a mall or to a theme park. I'm sure there have been incidents on DCL as with any cruise line. Check out the events at sea website.

 

[kcashner]

As a young teen, my DD was accosted by a 17 year old at the bottom of the stairway to The Stack (now Vibe). This young man had previously been barred from The Stack for his behavior in there; the CMs had no idea that he was lurking in the elevator lobby at the bottom of the stairs. The family had 2 concierge suites--one for the kids and one for the parents; the kids had to be moved from their suite to an interior room because they "threw stuff overboard." Stupid me interpreted that as trash or fish food or something--NO...it was chairs! We know that he managed to go farther with another girl than he did with my DD--she ran up the stairs and told a CM.

For what it is worth, the head of security told us that this family has been forever banned from DCL.

My concern is not so much the DCL CMs, (who have had background checks and are fired if DCL finds out anything inappropriate.) My concern is the other guests! That and the fact that there are a lot of unsupervised kids on the ship can add up to trouble.

 

[UmmGooD]

First let me say I am not surprised. I asked the question about international waters and crimes in another thread and I do feel that it would be difficult to prosecute someone for a crime in the US if something were to happen.

With that said on the Wonder I was very impressed by the CM's in the kids programs. I never went into the Edge or Vibe but in the Lab and Club the CM's were almost 100% female and were from countries where the authorities make an attempt at lawfulness. Canada, UK, USA, etc... Not that I don't trust people from 3rd world countries but I have a little piece of mind that the governments in these countries would investigate at least any crime even if it wasn't committed in their country. Plus the fact that most sexual offenders are male it gives me peace of mind that the counselors are female.

 

[UmmGooD]

As a young teen, my DD was accosted by a 17 year old at the bottom of the stairway to The Stack (now Vibe). This young man had previously been barred from The Stack for his behavior in there; the CMs had no idea that he was lurking in the elevator lobby at the bottom of the stairs. The family had 2 concierge suites--one for the kids and one for the parents; the kids had to be moved from their suite to an interior room because they "threw stuff overboard." Stupid me interpreted that as trash or fish food or something--NO...it was chairs! We know that he managed to go farther with another girl than he did with my DD--she ran up the stairs and told a CM.

For what it is worth, the head of security told us that this family has been forever banned from DCL.

My concern is not so much the DCL CMs, (who have had background checks and are fired if DCL finds out anything inappropriate.) My concern is the other guests! That and the fact that there are a lot of unsupervised kids on the ship can add up to trouble.

This young man should have been prosecuted when brought back into the country. Was that done? Because if it wasn't then he could be potentially doing other things with other people in the states.

 

[tinkertaylor05]

Hmmm we're yet to cruise but there does seem to be this false sense of security for some when I've read trip reports. It's totally personal choice but I won't be giving my dd signing privileges at clubs for a very very long time, not out of trust for her but you really have no idea who you are onboard with.

Poor girl to have experienced that

 

[Kim&Chris]

Yes. And as the experts in the story stated, even crew members who have been reported aren't necessarily prosecuted so there would be nothing in that person's background to show on a background check by another cruise line.

I also picked up on the bit about how US-based ships are required to report any crimes that occur on their ships. I'm no expert by any stretch but I'm pretty sure US-based = US-registered. How many ships are registered in the US? None of Disney's are. It's a very small percentage of cruise ships that are because of the financials involved. So this would mean that all those ships are NOT subject to this requirement to report crime that occurs onboard. I hope someone comes along and says this is NOT one & the same but I'm afraid it just might be.

I think the cruises are just like any other vacation where you have to not let yourself get so caught up that you aren't exercising the usual caution and awareness when it comes to safety and the safety of your loved ones. In the case of this girl in the video, I'm sure both she and her family felt she was perfectly safe locked in her own stateroom. Bless her heart.

I picked up on this point also.

What a disturbing report. If you think about it, what's to stop a child sexual predator from booking a cabin on DCL? Absolutely nothing. If I ever take my nieces on another DCL trip, I will not allow them to stay, or go to, the cabin alone.

 

[CandyMandy]

I can tell you the DCL takes inappropriate behavior from guests toward other guests very seriously.

The recent "fight on pirate night" thread could argue otherwise! Public display of fistfighting with no evidence there were any penalties for the participants.

 

[over50visits]

The family had 2 concierge suites--one for the kids and one for the parents; the kids had to be moved from their suite to an interior room because they "threw stuff overboard." Stupid me interpreted that as trash or fish food or something--NO...it was chairs!

Disney, of course, does not allow only children in a cabin. It seems to be common for people to reserve two cabins in two adults name, then switch the occupants. Here is a clear example of why that is against Disney policy. Of course, the reason people switch is "everyone does it" or "Disney doesn't enforce it." Too bad people don't do the right thing because it is the right thing, not because they might be caught!!

The teenage boy was wrong, and has a sad life ahead of him. Sounds like the parents share the blame here. The parents clearly are teaching their kids the wrong thing (by cheating on the room arrangements), I suspect they provided a lot of other bad examples in life that led to this behavior. Shame on him, and on them. Good for DCL for banning the entire family (if that's true).

 

[Piglets Mommy]

As a young teen, my DD was accosted by a 17 year old at the bottom of the stairway to The Stack (now Vibe). This young man had previously been barred from The Stack for his behavior in there; the CMs had no idea that he was lurking in the elevator lobby at the bottom of the stairs. The family had 2 concierge suites--one for the kids and one for the parents; the kids had to be moved from their suite to an interior room because they "threw stuff overboard." Stupid me interpreted that as trash or fish food or something--NO...it was chairs! We know that he managed to go farther with another girl than he did with my DD--she ran up the stairs and told a CM.

For what it is worth, the head of security told us that this family has been forever banned from DCL.

My concern is not so much the DCL CMs, (who have had background checks and are fired if DCL finds out anything inappropriate.) My concern is the other guests! That and the fact that there are a lot of unsupervised kids on the ship can add up to trouble.

This is a big concern to me too. DS will be 13 when we cruise, and I have already told him to let us know where he is heading each time he goes to a new location. Of course we also discussed not allowing anyone in our stateroom, and not to go into anyone else's stateroom either. I have told him to use common sense and not to let his guard down just because we are on vacation...there are creeps everywhere. DD will be 9, so We will still be signing her in and out of kids clubs. I would have considered letting the kids be in the room alone with the deadbolt on though....re-thinking that now.

 

[eeyoremommy]

I read on another site about a website you could go to that show every "reported" incident (I believe) by cruise line, ship, and year. There were incidents for DCL as well all of the major cruise lines. I would imagine that kcashner's event (I don't want to call it tragic, but somehow disgusting doesn't seem strong enough. Incident belittles what happened as well.) was among the list. I know that she has mentioned it on the boards before.

As OPs have mentioned, some parents (not kcashner) are lulled into a false sense of security on a ship. I have seen posters make the following analogy. A parent would not allow their young child, pre-teen, or even teenager run around unsupervised at all hours of the day and night in small city. Why would a parent then feel it is safe to do so on a cruise ship? Those same elements from the city still exist except they are now at sea instead of on land.

Parents must talk to the kids (even teens) about going to other people's rooms, etc. Your kid can only be as safe as you encourage them to be.

It isn't a Royal Caribbean problem or a Carnival problem or a Disney problem. It occurs throughout the cruise industry. They should do what they can. As a PP pointed out, a good amount of the threat does not come from the crew. It is our job as parents to keep our kids safe. We have to be vigilant and do our jobs. The cruise lines can only do so much.