Cruise ship youth counselor admits to molesting several young girls, FBI says

A Celebrity Cruises youth counselor admitted to molesting young girls while working at the ship's youth center, according to the FBI.

Cris John Pentinio Castor, 35, was taken into custody on Friday after the Celebrity Silhouette cruise ship returned to Port Everglades in Florida. Castor — who is a citizen of the Philippines — remained at Broward County’s Paul Rein Detention Facility on U.S. Marshals and immigration holds, according to jail records.

Castor was charged with abusive sexual contact of a minor under 12.

The cruise ship left Florida on Nov. 20 for a 10-day voyage in the Caribbean.

On Nov. 27, a 6-year-old girl told her parents that the youth counselor molested her while she was at the ship's Camp at Sea youth center, according to a criminal complaint. The young girl said "CJ" — the name the children called Castor — inappropriately touched her "private parts," according to the affidavit filed in federal court in Florida on Friday.

WPLG reported, "Upon the ship’s return to South Florida, she told a forensic investigator that Castor touched her 'where the pee comes from' while she played a video game, the complaint states."

Law enforcement officials said the security camera video didn't show the alleged molestation but did show Castor's hand reaching towards the child’s lap as she was playing.

"(Castor) told law enforcement that he was aware and understood that he knowingly touched the minor victim in the vicinity of her vagina," according to the FBI complaint.

The FBI said Castor confessed to molesting multiple children.

"(Castor) also admitted to the inappropriate sexual touching of other minor children that were in his care at the youth center, on multiple occasions, while consciously hiding his acts from the youth center’s security cameras,” the complaint read. “Furthermore, (Castor) admitted to inappropriately touching at least three additional minor children in their vaginal area, in some cases making skin-to-skin contact.”

A Celebrity Cruises spokesperson told USA Today, "We have zero tolerance for this behavior. We reported this to law enforcement and terminated the crew member, and we will continue to fully cooperate with authorities."

Castor’s attorney, Robert Berube, declined to provide a comment to the outlet.

Castor had reportedly worked as a youth counselor since August.

Castor is scheduled to appear in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Friday for a detention hearing.

USA Today reported that there were 87 allegations of sexual assault on cruise ships embarking and disembarking in the U.S. last year, based on a cruise line incident report from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

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