The alleged victim, now 21, has spoken out for the first time about her experience. (BuzzFeed News calls her “G” to protect her identity.) Then, when she was just 11 years old, G was on a cruise with her grandmother and little sister and excited about the vacation. “When you’re a kid, you automatically think it’s going to be amazing,” she said.
Before the ship even set sail for the Caribbean, G. went downstairs to get the Wi-Fi password, she told BuzzFeed News. “I asked a man who was outside the restaurant how to get to the lobby,” she recalls. “And as he was leading me, he immediately grabbed my chest.”
G. ran to the lobby looking for someone who could tell her the Wi-Fi password. She said that on the way back she was “afraid to go in the same direction” because she might cross paths with the man who touched her. But she needed to get back to her room, and she was afraid of getting lost on the giant ship.
Passing by the restaurant, G. entered the elevator. She said the same officer followed her, blocking the doors. “He said, 'Can I kiss?' – she recalls. “I kissed him on the cheek and he said, 'No, not there.' She then stated that the employee leaned in and kissed her on the lips.
After he let her go, G. ran to her room in tears. “I didn't know what to do,” she said.
She said she told her grandmother why she was so upset and they went to the lobby to report what had happened to guest services. G. said that they asked her about the incident and what the employee looked like, and promised that it would be investigated.
Taplin, who was on board at the time, said she watched surveillance footage from the elevator, which confirmed the child's version of events. G. later said that she was asked to identify the attacker by looking at photographs of four employees. According to Taplin and G., the girl identified the attacker as a waiter from one of the ship's restaurants.
Taplin said she did everything she could to investigate the case, but said she was obstructed throughout the process. She claimed that she told one of the ship's senior officers to call the FBI while the ship was still docked in Port Canaveral, Florida. But the officer decided to set sail around 5 p.m. and didn't tell the FBI until the ship was in international waters.
Thereafter, according to Taplin, a senior officer questioned the accused crew member in her presence. An official report of the meeting obtained by BuzzFeed News said the crew member “was hesitant but ultimately denied kissing the girl” and only gave her a high-five and a hug.
Taplin said what was not included in the report was that during the encounter the officer threatened the crew member, saying, “I'm going to cut your dick off right now,” and that he would remove the crew member's testicles and “put the balls in his mouth.”
When the ship docked in the Bahamas the next day, local police arrived. Taplin said police berated and threatened the alleged assailant into confessing. “It was so wrong,” Taplin said. “I mean, you caught him red-handed for what he did, right?”
He eventually signed a statement that Taplin claims was written by Bahamian police. “I touched her right breast with my left hand,” the signed confession states. However, Taplin noted that the alleged suspect was not arrested. Instead, he was repatriated to the state of Goa in India.
G. said that she was so afraid for the rest of the holiday that she did not want to leave her grandmother and never felt safe on board again. She said she could only relax during a stop at Castaway Cay, a private Caribbean island owned by Disney, because she knew her attacker wouldn't be there.
After G. reported the attack, she said Disney had the employee cleaning her room demonstrate how they create towel animals, and they put a princess blanket on her bed. “But that was basically it,” she said. After she returned home from the cruise, G. said her family only heard once from Disney that the accused crew member had been deported.
