Two crew members from CCL-Carnival Cruise Line were recently arrested on charges related to child pornography.
Law enforcement discovered illicit material on Reza Heta Pratama's phone and laptop during a search on July 18th, after he disembarked from the Carnival Valor ship in Port NOLA/New Orleans, Louisiana. The Indonesian national was dismissed from the ship following sexual harassment complaints from coworkers, as detailed in an arrest affidavit by Homeland Security Investigations special agent Jessica Zuppardo. Pratama admitted to obtaining the material from Telegram groups and acknowledged its presence in his photo gallery.
Authorities found similar material on Abdhul Rouvoof Shaik's WhatsApp account when he disembarked from the Carnival Liberty ship on July 14th. According to an affidavit by HSI special agent Brian Villaflor, Shaik, the Indian national claimed his friend from Indonesia added him to a group sharing explicit content involving minors. Shaik admitted to sending and receiving these videos and forwarding them to others before deleting them from his WhatsApp. When shown a sexually explicit video featuring a minor, Shaik conceded he had forgotten to delete it and had sent it to another friend "by mistake."
Pratama faces charges of transportation and possession of child pornography, while Shaik is charged with transportation and distribution of child pornography. Attorneys for both individuals have not yet commented on the cases.
These arrests follow similar incidents involving crew members from other cruise lines, including Celebrity Cruises and DCL/Disney Cruise Line earlier this year.