A mother claims her 6-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted while on an MSC Cruise.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, filed her complaint in federal court against MSC Cruises S.A. and MSC Cruise Management (UK) Limited.
According to the complaint, the mother and daughter from New York were on the MSC Divina on January 29, 2023.
The girl was in the ship's kids club area known as the Mini Club meant for 3- to 6-year-old children. When she went to the restroom, the complaint says a male passenger of an unknown age followed her into the restroom and sexually assaulted her.
When the girl left the restroom, "there was a group of other male passengers from the kids’ club were gathered outside of the girls’ restroom with the male passenger that took advantage of (her) and were laughing when (she) came out of the girls' restroom," the complaint states. "(The girl) told the male passenger that took advantage of her that she would tell the Kids Club employees and he pled her not to. At no point did the defendants’ employees entrusted with (the girl’s) safety monitor the situation or intervene."
Despite being informed of the sexual molestation and sexual assault perpetrated at the Kids Club, the complaint says the defendants failed to remove or ban the perpetrator from attending the Kids Club and put other vulnerable passengers at risk and also failed to report this sexual molestation and sexual assault to the proper authorities.
"The defendants also failed to provide ... information on the location of the perpetrator," the complaint states. "The defendants' failures and negligence after the incident caused additional fear and trauma for (the girl) and her family."
The mother claims MSC Cruises and MSC Cruise Management were negligent in their duties to ensure passenger safety. The complaint says the companies failed to properly screen and monitor their employees, which led to the assault. She seeks damages exceeding $75,000 exclusive of interest, court costs and attorney fees.