Janet Kelly
Event Date: 2000
Cruise Bruise: Sexually Assaulted
Age: 49
Home Town: Cottonwood, Arizona
Cruise Line: Victim Can Not Reveal
Cruise Ship: Victim Can Not Reveal
Attorney: James Walker
Details:
We have the important facts in this case, but when the victim received a settlement, she was muzzled by the cruise line, prevented from naming them, the ship name, or the settlement amount.
This is a new trend, where the cruise line settles out of court, allows the victim to tell the story, without naming them specifically. It does warn the public, but instead of just bruising the speciific cruise line, a particular ship, or particular crew member, it bruises the industry as a whole.
This is very unfortunate for those cruise lines that have excellent safety and security histories. However, since it was a Mexican cruise, that does limit the number of cruise lines who may have muzzled this victim.
On the last night of a Mexican cruise returning to Los Angeles, California, she stopped at a poolside bar before dinner.
The bartender, who in the days prior had been friendly but not overly flirtatious, handed her a fruity beverage.
Kelly, says that the drink was drugged. She says she felt her legs go limp and her mind turn to mush as the bartender led her to an employees only restroom and raped her before she passed out.
After arriving home the next day, she went to a hospital and was tested for evidence of sexual assault.
The FBI, took several weeks to interview the bartender, who claimed what happened in that bathroom stall had been consensual.
Kelly sued the cruise line, when she didn't get justice with the criminal case, and the bartender was terminated for misconduct, then sent home to Jamaica.
Several months later, she discovered through private investigators that he had been hired by another cruise line, then terminated for lying on his application.
March 2006 she will testify before a congressional committee. We thank her for coming forward with the details she was permitted to disclose.
Janet Kelly
Cruise Ship Sexual Assault Victim
Cruise Lines Settlement Muzzles Victim
