According to court records, a man was arrested on Wednesday after investigators claim he put up a covert camera in a public cruise ship restroom and filmed more than 150 people, including children, before another passenger saw it.
According to the criminal complaint submitted by an FBI agent, the event occurred on a seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise that left from Miami, Florida, on April 29. The ship Harmony of the Seas was scheduled to visit Saint Martin, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas.
According to the complaint, a hidden camera with WiFi capabilities was put in a public bathroom on the ship’s upper deck, adjacent to a surfing simulator and a bar, around a day after departure, when the ship was in international waters. The complaint contained photos of the little black camera as well as the location where it was hidden, an open spot above the inside of the bathroom door where part of the wall had been removed for repairs.
The next day, May 1, a passenger noticed the camera, with only the lens visible, and alerted the Royal Caribbean staff. Security staff removed the camera and discovered a memory card on which they found hours of film of more than 150 people using the bathroom.
On the recording, several victims were changing and were naked. According to the allegation, some 40 of them seemed to be minors, some as young as 4 or 5 years old.
However, the video also showed the suspect putting up the camera and subsequently moving it so that it focused on the toilet. According to the complaint, security officers aboard the ship interrogated passenger Jeremy Froias within hours, who admitted to placing the camera.
Froias was charged with video voyeurism, or filming someone in a private place without their permission, and attempted possession of child exploitation material. According to court documents, he was arrested on Wednesday.
Insider reached out to Royal Caribbean and a lawyer representing Froias for comment, but neither responded quickly.
The FBI is seeking the public’s help in identifying the victims.
“The FBI believes he primarily targeted cruise ship passengers between the timeframe of April 30 and May 1, 2023, who may have used the public bathroom on the aft of the Harmony’s top deck between the ‘Flow Rider’ surfing simulator and a bar. Passengers using this bathroom may have been video recorded by Froias,” an FBI notice said.
They urge anyone who believes they may have been a victim to fill out a form.
In 2018, a Florida couple found a hidden camera pointed at the bed of their cabin on a Carnival cruise ship.