A Royal Caribbean stateroom attendant on the Symphony of the Seas was sentenced by a federal court judge to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography.
Arvin Joseph Mirasol, age 34, a citizen of the Philippines, was sentenced in Miami federal court yesterday.
During a cruise from Fort Lauderdale in late February, an adult guest who was traveling with members of her family discovered a small spy camera (less than the size of a quarter) hidden in their bathroom. The tiny camera was positioned immediately below the sink and was positioned to record people using the toilet. The guest immediately reported the spy camera to guest services and security officers eventually responded. While security was present in the guests’ cabin, Mirasol appeared in the cabin and admitted that he owned the camera. The guests were savvy enough to record the location of the camera as well as Mirasol’s comments when he returned to the cabin.
Upon the Royal Caribbean cruise ship’s return to Port Everglades on March 3rd, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents searched Mirasol’s electronics, “uncovering numerous videos of children in various stages of undress,” according to Local News 7.
Federal agents discovered “numerous videos of naked females” as well as images of child sexual abuse while looking at his phone, an SD card and USB stick. One video showed Mirasol installing a camera in a cruise guest’s bathroom.
Mirasol began working as a cabin attendant for Royal Caribbean in December of 2023. The investigation revealed that Mirasol had been ‘secretly recording passengers, including children as young as 2 years old” since he began working on the Royal Caribbean ship three months earlier.
According to federal investigators, Mirasol would enter guests’ rooms “while they were showering and hide under their beds to record them exiting the shower.”
In addition to the federal criminal charges of producing child pornography, Mirasol was also charged with six counts of video voyeurism in state court after the Broward Sheriff’s Office interviewed him.
Child pornography and the use of spy cameras on cruise ships have become a particular problem in the last year. This incident is just one of at least sixteen incidents in a period of six months where crew members working on cruise ships have been arrested on child pornography charges.
So far, crew members from five companies have been arrested on child pornography charges: Carnival – 6 (or 7)(see explanation below*); Royal Caribbean – 4; Disney – 3; Celebrity – 1; and Holland America Line – 1.
We are aware of at least two incidents cases where spy cameras were placed on cruise ships to film unsuspecting guests. One case involved the Carnival Fantasy:
And one recent incident involved Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas just last May:
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Image credits: Symphony of the Seas – Darthvadrouw – CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; Arvin Joseph Mirasol – Broward County Sheriff’s Office via News 7; headline text – News 7.
*The employer of one crew member, Ferry Maryanto, who was arrested in June for child pornography, 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 operated by Virgin Voyages and one ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line were in port.
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