Celebrity Cruises audio-visual manager Amado Hernandez won’t be sailing on a scheduled Panama Canal cruise this week after being arrested by the FBI on child-pornography charges in San Diego Tuesday.
The investigation began when a computer technician was given what he thought was a broken computer at an estate sale last summer. The technician repaired the machine and discovered 450 still images and 250 video files of child pornography which he turned over to law enforcement authorities who then linked 31 year-old Hernandez to the machine.
According to the federal complaint reported by Signon San Diego, Hernandez had provided “onboard guest-entertainment services” on Celebrity Constellation since August and was due to ship out again on Monday before being arrested by the FBI. In evidence from documented online chats, Hernandez told of “buying young boys for sex in Mexico” and had “almost offed one once.”
In the online conversation evidence, Hernandez allegedly asked a man who said he was from Arkansas if he liked young boys, then suggested, “It would be hot to tag team one, go buy one in Mexico.”
Hernandez is not the first cruise ship worker arrested on child porn charges either. Maritime attorney Jim Walker reports crew members from Carnival and Costa Cruise Lines were also arrested recently saying “It’s not an isolated problem.”
Flickr photo by naxin