A crew member who served on a cruise ship that visited Maine this week is one of dozens of cruise ship employees who have been arrested in a sweeping federal operation targeting people in possession of child sex abuse materials.
A handful of the cruise ships identified by federal officials in the operation have visited Maine ports this summer.
Bobby Prieto, 35, who worked on the Norwegian Jewel, was arrested on Monday, a day before the ship visited Bar Harbor. Prieto, a citizen of the Philippines, was arrested after customs officials found multiple media files on his two cellphones depicting Prieto sexually assaulting a young girl, according to the District of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Before arriving in Bar Harbor, the Norwegian Jewel was in Portland Monday, according to an online cruise ship tracker. It is scheduled to arrive Wednesday in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Authorities have arrested 87 cruise ship crewmembers in Boston since mid-August for child sex abuse related charges, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
The arrests, which will lead to deportation or prosecution, are part of Operation Tidal Wave, a sprawling, multi-agency federal raid targeting child sex abuse crimes among cruise ship crew members, customs officials said.
The arrests come at a time when large ship visits to Bar Harbor are on the decline, as local residents have voted to cut back on the number and type of ships that can visit. Supporters of the limits, which restrict cruise ships to disembarking no more than 1,000 passengers per day during the months of July and August, say that the volume of ships and passengers in recent years has hurt the town.
The cap, which can only be enforced during the town’s peak tourist months, does not apply to large ships that were reserved prior to March 2022. The ships Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Breakaway, both of which made their reservations prior to the limits being adopted, and which have both visited Bar Harbor this summer, are among the ships identified by federal officials as part of the investigation.
The Breakaway, carrying nearly 4,000 guests, was targeted by the federal operation on Sept. 20, when officials removed six crew members from the vessel in Boston. Those six employees allegedly admitted to previously possessing child sex abuse or exploitation materials, according to customs authorities.
The Norwegian cruise ship’s seven-day New England-Canada voyage includes a stop in Portland, according to the company’s website. Its next arrival in Portland will be on Oct. 6.
The Breakaway vessel visited Eastport for the first time last week, according to a Facebook post from the Eastport Port Authority. Its visit, which was widely celebrated by area locals, came just days after the arrests.
But once news of the arrests reached Eastport Tuesday, locals expressed concern about cruise ships stopping at the Washington County coastal city.
“The point that I think is most important is that there is no community discussion about any of the downsides of this level of cruise tourism,” wrote one Facebook user who posted about the arrests. “And that water and air pollution brought to us by these big ships are not the only downside. Local kids were on one of these ships in June. Our community leaders need to help protect us from the negative impacts.”
Another user who commented on the post said her eighth-grade class traveled on the Breakaway.
“Ickkkkk,” another commentator wrote. “Well if anything this is a good PSA to keep a closer eye on our children’s whereabouts when cruise ships are in town.”
In mid-August, authorities arrested an additional 11 crew members of the Breakaway and Holland America Line’s Volendam, which also visited Eastport throughout the summer, according to Cruise Hive, a cruise ship blog.
All of the accused have been identified as foreign nationals, according to the agencies.
“The safety, security, and well-being of our guests are of paramount importance, and we remain committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment across our fleet,” Norwegian Cruise Lines told USA TODAY in mid-August, adding the cruise is fully cooperating with authorities.
Prior to the Boston arrest and expedited deportations, federal authorities removed 27 crewmembers from six ships in San Diego in April, and 15 employees — one of whom faces federal prosecution — from ships in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in June and July, according to customs officials.