Cruise Line Employee Allegedly Put Cameras in Bathrooms to Spy on Girls: 'I Want to Control It, But I Can't'

Mar. 15, 2025

Arvin Joseph Mirasol (L); The Symphony of the Seas, March 26, 2018 (R).Photo:Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty

Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty

Content warning: The following article contains disturbing descriptions.

The Royal Caribbean Cruise line worker would tape a video camera in one of the ship’s bathrooms to spy on young girls aboard, he allegedly told authorities upon his March 3 arrest.

Mirasol, of the Philippines, is charged with producing and possessing child pornography, which he allegedly filmed aboard the Symphony of the Seas beginning at the start of his employment last December, per the federal complaint.

Arvin Joseph Mirasol mugshot.Broward County Sheriff’s Office

Broward County Sheriff’s Office

“I want to control it,” Mirasol allegedly told federal authorities per the complaint. “But I can’t.”

As a stateroom attendant, Mirasol serviced guests' cabins, cleaning their rooms, restocking towels and making their beds.

Royal Caribbean Cruise lines reported Mirasol Feb. 26 to authorities, per the federal complaint. Six days later, the ship arrived from Haiti into Port Everglades, where Homeland Security agents and Customs and Border Patrol officers boarded the vessel and obtained Mirasol’s electronic devices.

“We have zero tolerance for this unacceptable behavior,” Jonathan Fishman, a spokesman for Royal Caribbean Group, said in a statement to PEOPLE. “We immediately reported this to law enforcement and terminated the crew member, and we will continue to fully cooperate with authorities.”

It was not clear from the federal complaint how the cruise line dealt with Mirasol aboard the ship between reporting him Feb. 26 and docking March 3.

Fishman has not responded to additional questions from PEOPLE regarding those intervening six days or if cruisers were made aware of the allegations against Mirasol while he remained on board.

The Symphony of the Seas moored in the Port of Miami, August 1, 2021.DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty

DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty

Mirasol’s public defenders did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Mirasol’s search history allegedly included, per the federal complaint, searches for: “hidden cameras,” “teen on bed,” “p— in public restrooms” and “sweet [genitals] of teenage girls."

Investigators discovered “numerous videos of naked females undressing in the bathroom as well as videos of child [sex abuse material],” HSI special agent Michelle Maglione wrote in the probable cause statement.

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The start of the video allegedly “clearly depicts” Mirasol setting up the camera, per the criminal complaint.

Mirasol allegedly told federal authorities that he would collect the camera and then “pleasure himself" to the footage.

Other times, per the complaint, Mirasol allegedly said he would enter the guest rooms while they were showering, hide under their beds, and, aiming his cell phone at their bodies, record them from his spot on the floor.

Mirasol appeared in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida for the first time Monday for a detention hearing in which Maglione testified. No plea was entered in the online federal docket.

Mirasol is detained, pending trial and set to return for his arraignment March 18 at 11 a.m.

source: people.com