Cruise crew member sentenced to 30 years for secretly filming children

A former Royal Caribbean International crew member was sentenced to 30 years in prison for filming guests with hidden cameras while they were naked, including young children.
Arvin Joseph Mirasol, 34, was sentenced Wednesday after he previously pleaded guilty to producing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a news release.
Mirasol was arrested on federal child pornography charges in March and charged with six counts of video voyeurism in Florida after a guest reported a hidden camera under the sink in their bathroom on the Symphony of the Seas ship. Mirasol, who is a citizen of the Philippines, worked on the vessel as a stateroom attendant.
Law enforcement found “numerous videos of children in various stages of undress” after searching Mirasol’s electronics, including one that showed him placing a camera in a passenger’s bathroom, prosecutors said. The children shown in the footage ranged from 2 to 17 years old.
“According to the agreed upon factual proffer, Mirasol had been placing cameras in passenger cabins since December of 2023,” the news release said. “Mirasol would enter the guests’ rooms while they were showering and hide under their beds so he could secretly record them exiting the shower.”
An attorney for Mirasol declined to comment on the sentencing. Royal Caribbean Group, the cruise line’s parent company, previously told USA TODAY that the company had “immediately” reported the crime to law enforcement and fired Mirasol.
“We have zero tolerance for this unacceptable behavior,” the company said in a statement following his arrest.
Mirasol is among a number of cruise line crew members arrested on pornography charges in recent months, including workers for Carnival Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line.
But Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations Miami, told USA TODAY in August that child exploitation is “significantly higher across the board,” not only in the cruise industry.
“If it’s up across the board, you’re going to see it up across the cruise ships,” he said.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].