A few weeks ago, our maritime accident attorneys discussed recent sexual abuse allegations against a Disney Cruise Line crew member who has been charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and one count of false imprisonment of a 13-year-old female cruise passenger. According to reports, Canaveral Port Authority Police arrested 36-year-old Ahmed Sofyan, a resident of Jakarta, Indonesia, on allegations that he had lured the young girl into an unoccupied cabin and touched her inappropriately.
Following the incident, Karl Holz, president of Disney Cruise Line issued a statement: “We have no tolerance whatsoever for the behavior alleged in this incident. We are sorry that anything of this nature could have occurred on one of our ships. We place enormous value on the trust our guests have in us, and nothing is more important to us than the safety and security of each and every one of our guests.”
Two weeks after Sofyan’s arrest, WKMG Local 6 published a story in which former Disney Cruise Line security officer Dawn Taplin was interviewed regarding her experiences while working for the cruise line that seems to contradict Disney Cruise Line’s company policy regarding the handling of such incidents.