Guest Post by Miriam Judith
A Royal Caribbean cruise ship employee has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for spying on unsuspecting guests — including innocent young children.
Arvin Joseph Mirasol, a 34-year-old citizen of the Philippines, planted hidden cameras in the rooms of unsuspecting families. He had even resorted to hiding under beds in order to record young children getting out of the shower, according to the reports.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Melissa Damian sentenced Mirasol to 30 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to producing child pornographic materials involving multiple children, some barely out of infancy.
Mirasol’s vile actions came to light in February when a young girl stumbled upon one of his cameras hidden under a sink in her room. Mirasol was detained until the cruise ship returned to Port Everglades in March, where he was finally arrested, for his revolting crimes.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office:
”Mirasol, a stateroom attendant who serviced passenger cabins, was detained until the cruise ship docked at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Once the ship docked, on March 3, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel boarded the ship and began their investigation. Mirasol’s electronics were seized and searched. Law enforcement discovered that Mirasol’s electronics contained numerous videos of children in various stages of undress. The focus of the videos was on the children’s genital areas. One video showed Mirasol himself installing a camera in a guest’s bathroom. HSI agents were able to identify children depicted in the videos, ranging from 2 to 17 years of age.”
Investigators revealed that Mirasol shamelessly confessed to spying on young girls since the very beginning of his employment with the company. The investigators said that Marisol also admitted to hiding cameras in guest bedrooms and hiding under beds in order to secretly record young children.
Unfortunately, the harm that was done by Marisol cannot be taken back, and his victims will be left with permanent scars inflicted by the predator. However, Mirasol will finally be behind bars where he can no longer harm anyone else.