U.S. Homeland Security arrested two crew members on cruise ships operated by Carnival Cruise Line when they were in New Orleans two weeks ago. According to a newspaper in News Orleans, Homeland Security arrested Abdhul Rouvoof Shaik of India and Reza Heta Pratama of Indonesia for possession and transportation of child pornography after they disembarked two different Carnival Cruise Line ships, Carnival Liberty (above right) and Carnival Valor (above left), in New Orleans.
The arrests were first reported by the Times Picayune and then picked up by USA TODAY. Neither publication provided any information which would place the story in the context of the larger problem of child pornography in the cruise industry.
Unlike other cases, I have not found arrest photographs and/or mug shots of these Carnival crew members.
These arrests bring the total number of crew members apprehended on cruise ships for child pornography to the unprecedented number of fifteen (15) cruise ship employees in just the first six (6) months of this year.
So far, crew members from five companies have been arrested on child pornography charges: Carnival – 6 (or 7); Royal Caribbean – 3; Disney – 3; Celebrity – 1; and Holland America Line – 1. The employer of one crew member, Ferry Maryanto, who was arrested last month, was not identified. He may have been employed by Carnival Cruise Line on either the Carnival Horizon or the Carnival Magic. He was arrested at the port of Miami on a day when two cruise ships operated by Carnival, one ship by Virgin Voyages and one ship by Norwegian Cruise Line were in port.
The last six or seven crew members arrested on child pornography charges were all employed by Carnival Cruise Line. Two of four Carnival crew members arrested in early June at the port of Miami worked on the Carnival Conquest. Iputuagus Karnawan, a/k/a Putu Karnawan (age 28)(from Indonesia), reportedly worked in the galley as a cook on the Carnival Conquest. Imadewisma Dana (also age 28 and from Indonesia), also reportedly worked as a cook on the Carnival Conquest.
Igedeboy Mardika (photo below right), a 28-year-old Indonesian national, and Sreerag Vazhayil (photo below left) , a 32-year-old Indian national, were also arrested for child pornography and were also accused of possessing bestiality videos on the Carnival Cruise Line ship where they worked (either the Carnival Horizon or Carnival Celebration).
Crackdown On Child Pornography By U.S. and Florida Law Enforcement in South Florida
Considering the high number of crew members who have been arrested on cruise ships in South Florida in the last six months, there appears to be an effort by both state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute people who possess and transport child pornography (and bestiality videos) on cruise ships. It is likely that once law enforcement seizes a crew member’s iPhone and/or computer, they obtain evidence such as social media sites and internet transmissions which share child pornography and/or bestiality images implicating a wide number of ship employees. Some of these crew members appear to trade and/or exchange images with other ship employees.
The arrest affidavit in the pending criminal case no. 2:24-mj-00105-DM filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Louisiana states that crew member Shaik was a member of a group of men in a WhatsApp group who would share images of “children having sex.” He would chat with his friend from Indonesia and send and receive “porn videos” involving children. The Indonesian friend was referred to in the arrest affidavit as a “co-conspirator.” Shaik waived his Miranda rights against self-incrimination and admitted to the arresting special agent on July 14th that he realized that the video included children and that child pornography was illegal.
It appears that crew member Pratama was directly implicated by Shaik and/or by transmissions on Shaik’s cell rhone. Homeland Security arrested Pratama a few days later, on July 18th.
Carnival allegedly terminated Pratama from his job and dismissed him from the ship following earlier sexual harassment complaints of an unspecified nature from his co-employees, as mentioned in an arrest affidavit by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent. Pratama also reportedly waived his Miranda rights and admitted to obtaining the child pornography images material from a Telegram group.
It seems clear to me the federal and state law enforcement authorities are working with agencies which use state-of-the-art surveillance software where experts monitor child pornography and file-sharing sites to develop a massive international database to catch those who possess and share child abuse images. Read: Inside the Surveillance Software Tracking Child Porn Offenders Across the Globe
It is unprecedented that law enforcement in any particular port would arrest as many as a dozen crew members for child pornography. Before this year, only ports outside of the United States, such as Canada, would arrest more than a just a few cruise ship employees for child pronography in any given year. See for example, Nabbed at Pier 21 – Another Crew Member Busted with Child Porn in Halifax, HAL Cruise Ship Musician Jailed for Child Pornography, Is Child Pornography Widespread on Cruise Ships?, Another Cruise Ship Employee Busted with Child Porn – This Time HAL Veendam, Another Carnival Crew Member Busted for Child Porn, and Costa Crew Member Caught With Child Pornography.
There is no question that there has been a change in the policy of law enforcement to increase scrutinizing of cruise ships as a source for child pornography.
You can read more about the problem of pornography on cruise ships here: Epidemic of Child Pornography on Cruise Ships Continues As Two More Crew Members Are Arrested.
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Image credit: Carnival Valor – Mason Piscitelli – CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; Carnival Liberty – Yankeesman312 CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; Stop Abuse Graphic – Stop Child Abuse Campaign.