WEST PALM BEACH — A second passenger aboard the Margaritaville At Sea Paradise cruise ship has accused a crewmate of sneaking into her room and raping her whereas she slept.
The girl, recognized in a December lawsuit solely as Jane Doe, mentioned she grew to become pregnant consequently and “was compelled to terminate the being pregnant, from which she then suffered severe issues.”
Her lawsuit towards the Classica cruise line is the second stemming from a May 5 incident aboard the Bahama-bound ship. Doe and her cabinmate, recognized in a separate lawsuit as HB, say bartender Hoobesh Dookhy pocketed certainly one of their room keys whereas serving the ladies drinks and used it to enter after each ladies fell asleep.
Doe mentioned she woke to seek out Dookhy caressing her face and sexually assaulting her. She advised FBI brokers that she demanded he depart, however he moved to HB’s mattress and started to assault her, too.
Doe photographed the assault and reported it to cruise ship safety the next morning. In response to courtroom data, investigators discovered the ladies’s room key within the pocket of Dookhy’s work vest and a photograph he took of HB, bare and asleep, on his cellphone.
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Dookhy later admitted to having intercourse with HB however advised investigators that their encounter was consensual. Confronted with the opportunity of life in federal jail on a sexual abuse cost, he pleaded responsible to 1 rely of abusive sexual contact in November — forgoing his proper to a trial by jury however cementing a cope with prosecutors to have the worst of the 2 costs towards him dropped.
Neither cost stemmed from the rape Doe describes in her newly filed lawsuit. She was categorised as a witness to her cabinmate’s sexual assault slightly than as a sufferer to her personal, however her lawyer mentioned Dookhy’s conviction and the next media consideration surrounding HB’s lawsuit satisfied her to file one, too.
Whereas Dookhy awaits a penalty of as much as two years in jail for his legal conviction, Doe seeks greater than $75,000 from the cruise line that employed him. Her lawsuit comes two months after U.S. District Choose Robin Rosenberg struck down HB’s personal request for punitive damages towards Classica. She continues to hunt compensatory damages.
Spencer Aronfeld, Doe’s lawyer, mentioned the decide’s determination would not preclude his shopper from in search of punitive damages as properly. He known as the 2 lawsuits “significantly completely different” by way of the damages reported by each ladies — essentially the most notable being Doe’s being pregnant and abortion.
Aronfeld mentioned his shopper didn’t bear a paternity check to find out who fathered the kid however mentioned Doe intends to testify that she and her husband weren’t sexually energetic earlier than or after the alleged rape.
Doe joins a protracted listing of passengers and crew members who say they had been victimized aboard cruise ships. Greater than 500 sexual-assault stories had been documented between 2010 and 2022 on 13 main cruise strains, in line with information printed by the U.S. Division of Transportation.
A spokesperson for Margaritaville at Sea Paradise declined to remark.
Hannah Phillips covers legal justice at The Palm Seashore Put up. You’ll be able to attain her at hphillips@pbpost.com. Assist help our journalism and subscribe today.
This text initially appeared on Palm Seashore Put up: Margaritaville at Sea crew member accused of impregnating passenger
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