Moms say they were sexually assaulted on Bahamas stop on Carnival cruise sailing out of Jacksonville
Two moms from Kentucky say they were sexually assaulted in the Bahamas during a stop on a Carnival Cruise that sailed out of Jacksonville, according to several media reports.
The women, Amber Shearer and Dongayla Dobson, both 31, told Chris Cuomo on News Nation that Carnival Cruise Lines did not make them aware of the U.S. Embassy for the island nation issuing a security alert, and the State Department issuing a travel advisory on Jan. 26, due to increased deadly violence.
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The women began their cruise on Thursday, Feb. 1, leaving on the Carnival Elation out of JAXPORT, the Daily Mail reports.
WLEX-TV reports that on Sunday, the women took a taxi to a local resort in Freeport. Shearer and Dobson told WLEX that their cocktails were drugged and resort staff members sexually assaulted them.
Though Carnival offers excursions to Pirate’s Cove Beach Resort, Carnival said in a statement that the women were on an “independent shore excursion,” the Daily Mail reports.
RELATED: ‘Practice increased vigilance’: State Department issues Bahamas travel warning
Shearer and Dobson told multiple media outlets the last thing they remember is the male staff members who attacked them offering to help them find shells for their kids.
People reports that in a press release shared on Facebook, “the Royal Bahamas Police Force said two men — ages 54 and 40 — were arrested Sunday in Grand Bahama after being accused of sexually assaulting two women, whose identities were not made public.”
READ: American woman killed in shark attack in the Bahamas
The women told WLEX-TV that they are disappointed with Bahamian police. Shearer and Dobson told WLEX that local police there failed to give them proper rape kits. They said to WLEX they later received care while back on board the cruise ship and as of Wednesday, were still waiting to speak with American law enforcement.
“Even when they got back to Jacksonville, no members of law enforcement from the U.S. were there to meet my clients,” the women’s attorney Nicholas Gerson told Cuomo.
The same week the U.S. put out a travel warning on the Bahamas, 2 American women thought they were enjoying a drink on the beach as their Carnival cruise ship was docked, but instead, Amber Shearer and Dongayla Dobson say staff members at a resort drugged and raped them...then… pic.twitter.com/LxOUM0AqBJ
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) February 8, 2024
In a statement to UNILAD, Carnival said the following of the incident:
“While ashore in Freeport, Bahamas on an independent shore excursion, two guests on Carnival Elation reported to Bahamian police that they were sexually assaulted at a local beach.
“Our onboard Care Team provided support for the two guests as they sailed back to Jacksonville. Bahamian police are investigating the matter and Carnival is providing our full cooperation.”
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Pirate’s Cove Resort shared the following statement with the Daily Mail, saying that the women’s accounts do not add up and that the men accused have been fired:
“Upon further review of the surveillance videos, the allegations made onsite, and in subsequent social media posts and news stories, conflict with what the time-stamped surveillance videos contain.
“While there is an active police investigation into these serious allegations, we have terminated the employment of the two accused, as the behavior seen on tape by management indicates that at a minimum, they violated our zero-tolerance policy.”
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The Royal Bahamas Police force stated to UNILAD:
“We recognize the seriousness of such matters and handle them with the highest level of professionalism, privacy and sensitivity...
“Emergency Medical Services offered medical assistance to the victims, which they declined, signing a waiver and then leaving for their cruise ship in a private vehicle.
“Recognizing the gravity of the incident, our officers boarded the cruise ship, providing a sexual assault kit and hospital form to the ship’s medical doctor and obtained signed statements from the victims.
“The RBPF is collaborating closely with the FBI in this ongoing investigation. Woman Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ms. Shanta Knowles, who oversees Grand Bahama, is personally ensuring that the investigation is conducted with the utmost level of professionalism and care.”
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