A passenger on a cruise ship sailing in the Caribbean was detained after a hidden camera with videos of dozens of people, including children, was discovered in a public restroom, authorities said.
Jeremy Froias, who until this week worked as a cybersecurity officer for the city of Kissimmee, Florida, according to The Washington Post, was arrested last Wednesday in Puerto Rico and accused of video voyeurism and attempted possession of child exploitation material, according to court documents.
According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in San Juan, Froias boarded Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas ship in Miami on April 29 for a seven-day voyage. The ship was scheduled to stop in Saint Maarten, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas before returning to Miami on Saturday.
New Details Emerge About Death of 62-Year-Old American Woman on Cruise Ship
Dec. 5, 202200:27
A day into the voyage, while the ship was in international waters, Froias put a Wi-Fi camera hidden in a public restroom on the ship's upper deck, between a surf simulator and a bar, authorities said. A day later, another passenger saw the camera and alerted the crew.
['Miraculous' rescue of a passenger from a cruise ship that fell into the Gulf of Mexico and to the Coast Guard's amazement survived]
"The matter was immediately communicated to local and federal authorities, and the passenger involved was removed from the ship by authorities to continue the investigation," Royal Caribbean said in a statement.
The ship's security personnel seized the camera and found several hours of video files on a memory card, according to authorities. The footage showed Froias hiding the camera and pointing it at the bathroom. According to investigators, more than 150 people appear in the videos, including at least 40 children. Some were at least partially naked. Froias and the camera were eventually turned over to the FBI in Puerto Rico. A defense attorney for Froias declined to comment on the case.
Froias appeared in court for a bond hearing Monday in Puerto Rico; a judge said he could be released on $25,000 bail, according to The Washington Post, but would need to use an electronic monitoring device, surrender his passport and limit his travel to Puerto Rico. You are not allowed to use the internet or have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18, including your two children.
