The Federal Bureau of Investigations detained a Carnival cruise passenger for sexually assaulting his nine-year-old daughter, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida.
Justin Sigmon was charged with abusive sexual contact with a child under the age of 12 by the US District Court on May 30.
Sigmon and his family were on the Carnival Sunshine, which was on tour from May 25 to May 29. According to the complaint, the cruise left from Miami and stopped in the Bahamas.
According to the complaint, on May 26, a passenger witnessed Sigmon touching his daughter’s thighs and finally moving towards her “private area.” The incident was also caught on the ship’s CCTV cameras, which showed Sigmon’s daughter repeatedly pushing his hands away, as per complaint.
According to the passenger, when his daughter had moved away from him, Sigmon covered his crotch with his hands.
The complaint stated: “Sigmon told law enforcement that he understood that the touching could be perceived as “inappropriate,” but claimed it was not intended to be “sexual.” According to the complaint, Sigmon allegedly told the FBI that if he had touched his daughter in the same way, he would have hit another man in the face.
On June 2, Sigmon resigned from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. According to the office’s official website, Sigmon was a captain.
“Our prayers are with the Sigmon Family,” the Franklin County Office of the Sherrif said in a press release, adding that it has “been working to gather all the information we can based on the limited amount provided by federal authorities.”
Sigmon and the prosecutor in the case, Markenzy Lapointe, did not react promptly to Insider’s requests for comment.