A Celebrity Cruises youth counselor faces federal charges after he allegedly admitted to sexually abusing several children during a 10-day trip to the Caribbean.
Cris John Pentinio Castor, 35, was arrested last week after the Celebrity Silhouette returned to Port Everglades, Florida, following the cruise that left South Florida on Nov. 20, USA Today reported.
The FBI said he confessed to sexually abusing several children on the ship after the parents of a 6-year-old girl accused him of touching her “private parts” on Nov. 27, according to the outlet, citing a criminal complaint.
After picking her up, the parents returned to the Camp at Sea center on the boat and the girl told the program director how “CJ,” as the counselor was known, allegedly touched her, WPLG reported.
She later told an investigator in Port Everglades that Castor had touched her in the area “where the urine comes from” while she was playing a video game.
Authorities said the security video did not directly show the actual act, but it did reveal Castor’s hand reaching into the girl’s lap as she played.
Castor, who is a citizen of the Philippines, “told authorities that he was conscious and understood that he had knowingly touched the minor victim in the vicinity of her vagina,” according to the FBI complaint.
He also “admitted to inappropriately sexually touching other minor children who were in his care at the Youth Center, on multiple occasions, while knowingly concealing his acts from the Youth Center’s security cameras,” the affidavit states.
The suspect has admitted to the sick acts, the FBI says. Facebook / Cris Juan Pentinio Castor
Castor, who had worked as a youth counselor since August, also said he touched at least three other children inappropriately “in their vaginal area, in some cases making skin-to-skin contact,” the feds said.
The alleged pervert was accused of abusive sexual contact of a minor under 12 years of age.
Cris John Pentinio Castor admitted to touching several children, according to a criminal complaint. Facebook / Cris Juan Pentinio Castor
He was being held at Broward County’s Paul Rein Detention Center under US Marshals custody and immigration detainers, according to WPLG. He is due to appear in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Friday for a detention hearing.
“We have zero tolerance for this behavior,” a Celebrity Cruises representative told media in a statement. “We reported this to the authorities and fired the crew member. “We will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities.”
The Celebrity Silhouette was on a 10-day cruise at the time of the alleged incidents. Corbis via Getty Images
Celebrity Silhouette’s cruise included stops in Saint Maarten, Saint Lucia and Tobago.
Last year, there were 87 reports of sexual assault on cruise ships embarking and disembarking in the United States, USA Today reported, citing data from the Department of Transportation.
The Post has reached out to Celebrity Cruises for additional comment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn