Featured Image Credit: Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Broward Sheriff's Office
Topics: Cruise Ship, Crime, US News
Joe Harker
Topics: Cruise Ship, Crime, US News
A cruise worker for Royal Caribbean has been arrested and accused of setting up hidden cameras in passenger's bathrooms.
According to NBC Miami, 34-year-old Arvin Joseph Mirasol was arrested on Sunday (3 March) after a cruise ship passenger found a hidden camera in her cabin.
It reported that she'd been on board the Symphony of the Seas cruise ship and had been staying with her sister and mother when she found the camera in the cabin bathroom 'affixed to the counter underneath the sink'.
Mirasol was employed by Royal Caribbean as a stateroom attendant, with a responsibility for passenger cabins that included cleaning, making the beds and restocking the towels.
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NBC Miami reports that an arrest affidavit stated the man was detained on board the ship before being officially arrested on Sunday when it arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Mirasol was arrested on charges of production and possession of child pornography, and also faces six charges of voyeurism according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the US District Court of Florida.
When authorities seized Mirasol's possessions they 'found numerous videos of naked females undressing in bathrooms as well as child pornography' on his phone, SD card and a USB stick.
According to the affidavit, one of the videos showed the 34-year-old installing a camera.
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Another video showed a 10-year-old girl entering the bathroom and having a shower.
As per the affidavit, Mirasol told investigators that he'd been placing the cameras in passenger's bathrooms since he started working on the cruise ship in December 2023.
"I want to control it, but I can’t," the affidavit notes he told investigators of his actions, and elsewhere he admitted he knew what he was doing was illegal.
When he was asked how he chose where to put cameras documents indicated that Mirasol told investigators 'if I like who is in that room, I place it', and in the affidavit the 34-year-old said he chose girls who were aged 16 or over.
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Mirasol also said he had gone into rooms while guests were showering and hidden under their bed before recording them getting dressed.
In a statement Royal Caribbean said it had fired Mirasol and was helping the authorities with their investigation into the matter, saying: "We have zero tolerance for this unacceptable behaviour.
"We immediately reported this to law enforcement and terminated the crew member, and we will continue to fully cooperate with authorities."
Mirasol is currently being held in Broward Sheriff's Office main jail.