TAMPA – A Royal Caribbean cruise line employee tried to rape a 22-year-old passenger on a ship originating from the Port of Tampa, an arrest report shows.
Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies on Saturday charged Henry Maceto Forbes, 34, with false imprisonment and sexual battery in the Tuesday incident aboard the Legend of the Seas.
Forbes remained in Orient Road Jail on Sunday night, and his bail hadn’t been set. He won’t be disciplined by the cruise line until a police investigation is complete, Royal Caribbean spokesman Michael Sheehan said Sunday.
The incident, according to the report, began about 3:30 a.m. in a bar area on the ship, where Forbes works.
He offered to take the passenger on a tour and led her to a dark room, where he pulled her inside by her hand, according to the report.
Forbes, a Colombian citizen, attempted to rape her, the report shows. He held the door closed until she yelled, and she was able to flee.
The Legend of the Seas was in international waters during a weeklong cruise. It was heading from the Bahamas to Belize, and the trip continued after the incident.
Forbes stayed in the brig until the ship returned to the Port of Tampa, where he was arrested.
From fiscal year 2000 through June, the FBI opened 305 cases of crime on cruise ships. About 45 percent of those cases involved sexual assaults, FBI figures show.
By JOSH POLTILOVE, The Tampa Tribune
