Disturbing allegations from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, where a man is accused of hiding a camera in a public bathroom and filming more than 150 people who used it. That number includes dozens of children who traveled aboard the Harmony of the Seas, one of the biggest cruise ships in the world, the Washington Post reports. Authorities say Jeremy Froias boarded the ship April 29, and the next day hid the WiFi camera in part of the wall above a door that had been removed so repairs could be done. Authorities say he can be seen on footage from the camera re-entering the bathroom to adjust the angle the next day, May 1, and later that day a fellow passenger noticed the lens and reported it to crew. Authorities say Froias pointed the camera at the toilet and connected it to his phone via WiFi, CNN reports.
Hours of video were found on a memory card inside the camera when security officers removed it, according to an arrest affidavit, including videos of at least 40 minors, some as young as 4 or 5. "Individuals are seen coming into the bathroom to either use the toilet or to change into or out of swimsuits,” the affidavit says. “Froias’s camera captured these individuals in various stages of undress, including capturing videos of their naked genitals, buttocks, and female breasts.” He was removed from the ship and arrested on federal charges of video voyeurism and attempted possession of child exploitation material.
He had a bail hearing Monday in Puerto Rico and was released to his wife as a third-party custodian on $25,000 bond; he is barred from using the internet or having unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, including his own two kids, and had to surrender his passport. After his arrest, the Florida city of Kissimmee, where he was hired in 2004 and for which he was working as a cybersecurity officer, fired him. (More Royal Caribbean stories.)