Elizabeth Baker
Girl Is Sexually Assaulted On Cruise
While Security Guard Watches March 2004
Elizabeth Baker was 16, three years ago, when she boarded a cruise ship in Miami, Florida with her mother, father, sister and grand-parents headed to the Western Caribbean for seven wonderful days.
She says their voyage was suppose to go to Haiti, but due to violence there, they ended up going to Puerto Rico, Ocho Rios, and Cozumel aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ship. The name of the ship, she says she does not remember.
What she does remember is meeting a nice boy name Brandon on the first day of the cruise, and becoming good friends with him. She says they became a "couple" and several other kids joined their little group, as they all hung out together onboard the ship.
But, she she says another guy became interested in her, followed her around the ship, and would not leave her alone. When the guy would catch up to her, and begin talking, he was very touchy feely.
Elizabeth says she told Brandon that she was concerned about this touchy feely guy, and didn't want to be alone, fearing something might happen if she was alone with him.
She tells Cruise Bruise, "I told Brandon that this guy was defenitly someone I didn't want to be alone with and he told me not to worry because he would make sure nothing bad would happen to me."
But, as the cruise continued, avoiding the annoying passenger became more difficult. Elizabeth says, "On the 5th night I ran into him alone on the
pool deck, he asked me if I would like a drink of vodka, and I politely
said no, walked off and tried to get away from him as fast as possible."
By the last night of the cruise, things took a turn for the worst. Elizabeth and Brandon were in the hot tub. Elizabeth left the hot tub to use the restroom, and that is when things got ugly.
Elizabeth says that, as she was entering the restroom, she came across the passenger near the restroom. He smelled of vodka and could not stand right, She said a quick hello and walked into the restroom.
Then, when she exited the restroom, he was outside the door waiting for her. "I said excuse me to get past him because he was blocking my
path and he just threw me off to the side and had me cornered. I was so
scared, he started to assault me and I stood there crying."
At this point, Elizabeth tells us a security guard was walking by, several times, watching as she struggled with the passenger who was frantically trying to remove her bathing suit. The passenger threatened her, that if she did not cooperate he was going to toss her overboard.
She says the guy over-powered her, "Now im 4'11", 105 pounds and he was 6' and probably 200 pounds. I could not defend myself."
At this point, Brandon came to her rescue, and hit the guy in the head with a beer bottle, knocking him out. This is when the security guard finally decided to take action, and said he was going to arrest Brandon.
Elizabeth, who was histerical at this point, says she was yelling at the security guard that he just stood by and watched her get sexually assaulted, doing nothing, and Brandon had been the one to come to her rescue. At that point, she says the security guard backed off, and disappeared, likely fearing he would lose his job for for his earlier inaction.
She says the next morning she and Brandon told their story to a woman at the front desk. But, because Elizabeth didn't know the assailant's last name, they couldn't do anything. When they questioned the security guard, he denied being on the pool deck at all that night.
Later, when her parents tried to get justice, they met with the same resistance due to the fact no report was made, no investigation took place, and the passenger's last name was unknown.
She gives advice to others, "I always tell people who go on cruises now to stay in groups that way you're not a target, especially girls."
