Cris John Pentinio Castor admits molesting kids on Celebrity Cruises: feds
A Celebrity Cruises youth counselor faces federal charges after he allegedly admitted to molesting several children during a 10-day voyage in the Caribbean.
Cris John Pentinio Castor, 35, was arrested last week after the Celebrity Silhouette returned to Port Everglades, Florida, following the cruise that left South Florida on Nov. 20, USA Today reported.
The FBI said he confessed to molesting multiple kids on the ship after the parents of a 6-year-old girl accused him of touching her “private parts” on Nov. 27, according to the outlet, citing a criminal complaint.
After picking her up, the parents returned to the Camp at Sea center on the ship and the girl told the program manager about how “C.J.,” as the counselor was known, allegedly touched her, WPLG reported.
She later told an investigator in Port Everglades that Castor had touched her in the area “where the pee comes from” while she was playing a video game.
Authorities said security video didn’t directly show the actual act, but did reveal Castor’s hand reaching towards the child’s lap as she was playing.
Castor, who is a citizen of the Philippines, “told law enforcement that he was aware and understood that he knowingly touched Minor Victim in the vicinity of her vagina,” according to the FBI’s complaint.
He also “admitted to the inappropriate sexual touching of other minor children that were in his care at the Youth Center, on multiple occasions, while consciously hiding his acts from the Youth Center’s security cameras,” the affidavit states.
Castor, who had worked as a youth counselor since August, also said he touched at least three other children inappropriately “in their vaginal area, in some cases making skin-to-skin contact,” the feds said.
The alleged perv was charged with abusive sexual contact of a minor under 12.
He was being held at the Broward County’s Paul Rein Detention Facility on U.S. Marshals and immigration holds, according to WPLG. He’s due to appear in Fort Lauderdale federal court Friday for a detention hearing.
“We have zero tolerance for this behavior,” a Celebrity Cruises rep told the outlets in a statement. “We reported this to law enforcement and terminated the crew member. We will continue to fully cooperate with authorities.”
The Celebrity Silhouette’s cruise included stops in Saint Maarten, Saint Lucia and Tobago.
Last year, there were 87 allegations of sexual assault on cruise ships embarking and disembarking in the U.S., USA Today reported, citing data from the Department of Transportation.
The Post has reached out to Celebrity Cruises for additional comment.
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