FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Celebrity Cruises youth counselor was jailed in Broward County after federal authorities said he admitted to molesting multiple children.
Authorities took Cris John Pentinio Castor, 35, into custody on Friday after the Celebrity Silhouette returned to Port Everglades following a 10-day cruise that left South Florida on Nov. 20.
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The arrest was first reported by the Miami New Times.
According to a criminal complaint, on Nov. 27, a 6-year-old girl told her parents what happened after they came to pick her up. The complaint states that they then brought her to the youth center’s program manager, where she said that “CJ,” as Castor was known, inappropriately touched her “private parts,” pointing to her genitals.
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.
Prosecutors said security footage didn’t directly show the molestation, but did show Castor’s hand reaching towards the girl’s genitals.
Authorities said Castor admitted to molesting the young girl.
“(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 states. “Furthermore, (Castor) admitted to inappropriately touching at least three additional minor children in their vaginal area, in some cases making skin-to-skin contact.”
Castor is facing a federal charge of abusive sexual contact of a minor under 12 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The Philippine national remained at Broward County’s Paul Rein Detention Facility on U.S. Marshals and immigration holds, according to jail records.
“We have zero tolerance for this behavior,” a spokesperson for Celebrity Cruises said. “We reported this to law enforcement and terminated the crew member. We will continue to fully cooperate with authorities.”
He’s set to appear in Fort Lauderdale federal court Friday for a detention hearing.