Man arrested for allegedly molesting 13-year-old girl on a cruise ship

Elise Solé
A 27-year-old man allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl on board a Norwegian Epic cruise in 2018. (Photo: Getty Images)
A 27-year-old man allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl on board a Norwegian Epic cruise in 2018. (Photo: Getty Images)

An Oregon man was extradited to Florida for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old girl on a cruise ship.

On Friday, Justin Dolson, 27, was booked into Brevard County Jail in Cocoa, Fla., for attacking the girl in a hot tub aboard a Norwegian Epic cruise on Mar. 24, 2018, according to Spectrum News 13 and WFLA. Although Dolson was arrested in his home state of Oregon, he was extradited to Florida because the ship departed from Port Canaveral.

“Video surveillance shows the two engaged in an embrace and exhibiting intimate behavior while they were alone in the hot tub around the date and time the allegation was said to occur,” read a police report (which was not immediately available to Yahoo Lifestyle).

Justin Dolson, 27, was arrested in Oregon and extradited to Florida for the alleged rape of a girl, 13, whom he met on a cruise ship. (Screenshot: WFLA)
Justin Dolson, 27, was arrested in Oregon and extradited to Florida for the alleged rape of a girl, 13, whom he met on a cruise ship. (Screenshot: WFLA)

Tod Goodyear of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office tells Yahoo Lifestyle that Dolson was detained when the girl’s mother reported him. After the boat docked, the girl and her family returned to Indiana without providing a victim statement to authorities. However, they met with local Child Protective Services, and Florida authorities arranged for Dolson’s Oregon arrest and extradition via a 10-day bus ride with other prisoners.

“There is surveillance video of him and the girl in the hot tub, but most of the activity was underwater,” Goodyear tells Yahoo Lifestyle, adding that Dolson and the teen did not know each other before the cruise.

Representatives of the Norwegian Epic didn’t return Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment.

Spectrum News 13 reported that Dolson was unemployed in 2018 and currently has $300 in assets of clothing, an Xbox gaming system and a television. Dolson is reportedly charged with lewd or lascivious conduct on a child under the age of 16.

Goodyear tells Yahoo Lifestyle that when Dolson was asked to make a statement, he answered, “Would it matter?”

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