A Royal Caribbean cleaner has been arrested over suspicions he hid cameras in ship bathrooms to film young female passengers

06.03.2024 - 13:21 / insider.com / Royal Caribbean

An employee working on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship has been arrested on suspicion of placing secret cameras inside passengers' bathrooms and filming them without their knowledge.

A probable cause affidavit by the Homeland Security Investigations, part of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that Arvin Joseph Mirasol, a stateroom attendant at the cruise line, was in possession of a USB stick containing child pornography and videos of women undressing in bathrooms.

According to the affidavit, Mirasol admitted to hiding video cameras in passengers' bathrooms and told investigators that he would masturbate while watching the videos.

Royal Caribbean notified agencies including Homeland Security Investigations in late February that a member of crew aboard its Symphony of the Seas vessel had placed a camera in passengers' bathrooms, the affidavit said.

Agents boarded the ship when it docked at Port Everglades, Florida, on March 3 and took Mirasol's devices including his phone, camera, and USB stick, per the affidavit.

One of the videos they found on the USB stick showed a girl, estimated to be around 10 years old, undressing and showering, the affidavit said. The start of the footage "clearly" shows Mirasol placing the camera in the bathroom, according to the affidavit.

Mirasol's role included cleaning passengers' rooms and making their beds.

Mirasol told agents that he had been placing cameras in passengers' bathrooms since he started working on the Symphony of the Seas in December, per the affidavit. He said he chose women aged 16 and over.

"I want to control it, but I can't," he told agents, the affidavit said.

Mirasol said that he would also hide under passengers' beds and film them while they were showering, according to the affidavit.

Mirasol was arrested and charged with six counts of voyeurism in Broward County in Florida on March 3. He was also charged with the production and possession of child pornography in the US District Court of Florida for the Southern District of Florida.

Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI, sent outside regular working hours.

"We have zero tolerance for this unacceptable behavior," a Royal Caribbean spokesperson told NBC News. "We immediately reported this to law enforcement and terminated the crew member, and we will continue to fully cooperate with authorities."