Carnival Cruise Line Employee Charged with Engaging in Sexual Acts with Passenger Under the Age of 16

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announce the filing of a criminal complaint charging defendant Kert Clyde Jordan, 35, of Grenada, with engaging in a sexual act with a person under the age of 16, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2243(a)(1). The defendant made his initial appearance in federal court yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea Simonton. A pre-trial detention hearing has been scheduled for December 1, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, defendant Jordan met the 14-year-old victim aboard the Carnival cruise ship Liberty while the victim was vacationing with her family. Jordan was employed as a waiter on the ship. The complaint alleges that the defendant engaged in sexual acts with the victim in a bathroom on the Lido Deck while the ship sailed in international waters on November 4 and 5, 2011. Upon returning home, the victim told her family about the sexual acts that occurred on the ship. During the investigation that followed, the victim identified the defendant as the man she had sex with while on board the ship.

Mr. Ferrer commended the FBI’s Miami Field Office, the FBI’s Jackson, Mississippi Division, the Miami-Dade Police Department, Port of Miami Division, and the Broward Sheriff’s Office for their efficient and thorough investigation of this case. Mr. Ferrer also thanked Carnival Cruise Lines for their cooperation during this investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Diane Patrick.

A complaint is only an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.