A Honduran man, previously employed by Royal Caribbean Cruises on the Rhapsody of the Seas, pled guilty last week to sexually assaulting a 15 year-old girl who was sailing as a passenger on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship in the summer of 2003.
Elias Luis Herrera, 47, entered his plea on June 22 in Houston federal court before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who scheduled sentencing for September 18.
A Vicious Sexual Assault of a Minor Girl by Two Royal Caribbean Crew Members
According to News 4 in San Antonio, Texas, the charges stem from an early morning assault on July 17, 2003. According to prosecutors, Herrera and a fellow crew member, Edgerton Phillip Medford, were working on the cruise ship out of Galveston, Texas, “when they targeted the teenager as she walked near a pool. The two men grabbed the minor by her arms, forced her down, and pinned her to a deck chair. Despite the victim’s continuous screaming, both men removed their uniforms and took turns sexually assaulting her.”
Details of the Heinous Crime Against the 15 Year-Old Child
The federal court’s Plea Agreement adds additional relevant facts: On July 14, 2003, the Rhapsody of the Seas left port in Galveston on a seven day cruise. The sexual assault occurred “between approximately 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. on July 17th.” Royal Caribbean crew members Herrera and Medford worked in the galley section on deck nine of the cruise ship; they forcibly sexually assaulted the 15 year-old against her will by the pool on deck nine.”
As the girl, identified only as “K.L.” to protect her identity, “was walking on deck nine, Herrera and Medford encountered her, grabbed her arms, and forced her down on a deck chair. Defendant and Medford then held K.L. down with their hands grabbing on to her arms such that she was unable to get up or otherwise escape.”
The Minor Was Intoxicated at the Time of the Crime
In addition to K.L. being 15 years old at the time, both Herrera and Medford knew that K.L. was intoxicated at the time; thus, they both knew that K.L. was physically incapable of declining participation in the sexual act. Moreover, several hours after the sexual assault, K.L.’s blood alcohol content was determined by the ship’s medical personnel to be 0.15 percent.
After reporting the rape to officials aboard the ship, the minor was examined by a ship physician who collected physical evidence including vaginal swabs, which subsequently implicated both men. When the cruise ship returned to Galveston, an FBI agent boarded the ship and interviewed the victim and the two crew members who were swabbed for DNA.
The FBI did not arrest either of the Royal Caribbean crew members, who continued to work on the cruise ship. We have represented several rape victims where the FBI failed to take the rapist-crew member into custody despite a clear account from the guest-victim, CCTV evidence, and a failed polygraph by the crew member.
Florida based police officers, like the Miami-Dade County Police Department and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, which have statutory jurisdiction to investigate crimes on cruise ships that leave and return to Florida, are far more aggressive in arresting crew members who sexually assault guests.
Royal Caribbean Allowed Both Crew Members to Leave the Ship
Royal Caribbean did not restrict Herrera from leaving the cruise ship and going ashore during subsequent cruises. Herrera took advantage of Royal Caribbean’s reckless indifference to “jump ship” from the Rhapsody of the Seas on July 30, 2003, while the ship was docked in Cozumel, Mexico.
Royal Caribbean subsequently permitted crew member Medford to leave the ship, despite raping the minor guest. Medford requested “compassionate leave” shortly after the FBI interviewed him supposedly to “attend to a relative who was ill,” according to a newspaper in St. Vincent. Royal Caribbean then flew him home to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Medford did not return to work on the ship again.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment against both men in 2004, finding that there was probable cause to arrest both crew members for the sexual assault of the minor.
Medford Was Apprehended 4 Years Later; Herrera Was Jailed for Trafficking Cocaine and Finally Pled Guilty 23 Later
Medford was extradited from St. Vincent and the Grenadines several years later (in 2007).
Herrera fled from arrest and traveled to Costa Rica. Herrera was arrested in Costa Rica in 2014 for trafficking more than 737 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Costa Rica. In 2016, a Costa Rican court sentenced him to twelve years in prison. Herrera was finally extradited for raping the child in October of 2025 and brought into the Southern District of Texas, where he recently pled guilty for the crime he committed 23 years ago.
Herrera faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. He will remain in federal custody until his sentencing hearing.
Some Thoughts About Arresting Crew Member After They Sexually Assault Guests
These cases illustrate the difficulties in holding crew members criminally accountable for violent crimes against children. Although involving a violent attack in a public space on the cruise ship that was likely captured on closed circuit cameras, and promptly reported and documented, the FBI failed to arrest the two men. This allowed Royal Caribbean, which is vicariously liable for the crimes committed by ship employees against guests, to permit both men to leave the ship, with Herrera jumping ship and Royal Caribbean flying Medford home to St. Vincent.
This Was Not the Last Time a Royal Caribbean Crew Member Raped a 15 Year-Old Guest on the Rhapsody of the Seas
On New Year’s Day of 2010, a 15-year-old passenger was reportedly raped by a Royal Caribbean crew member. She had been seasick during the Australian–New Zealand round trip cruise and was resting alone in a cabin when a man wearing a bartender’s uniform entered. Read: Death, assaults, lawlessness … the dark side of the cruise industry Courier Mail, January 1, 2014.
“She was on a 12-day cruise from Sydney to New Zealand and back with her parents, brother and sister.
From their home near Los Angeles, her mother told The Sunday Mail the ‘sweet and shy’ teen, who had suffered sea-sickness throughout the trip, was resting alone when a man wearing what she later identified as a ship bar tender’s uniform entered the cabin and sexually assaulted her.
Traumatized and terrified by her attacker’s threats that worse would follow if she told anyone, the teenager only confided in a friend two months later. The family went to the FBI but the perpetrator was never apprehended.”
A U.S. Congressional hearing in 2013 determined that approximately one-third of sexual assault victims on cruise ships are minors.
Conclusion
This case is a prime example of the cruise industry’s systemic failure to detain known suspects. In the short run, Royal Caribbean prioritized its corporate reputation over victim safety and criminal justice, directly enabling two violent predators to walk free.
Justice has been a long time coming for this little 15 year-old girl.
Sources:
U.S. Attorney’s June 22, 2026 Press Release
UNITED STATES v. HERRERA (2021) MEMORANDUM OPINION ORDER on the Motion to Dismiss Indictment Prejudice Based on the Alleged Violation of Constitutional Right to Fair and Speedy Trial filed by Herrera’s defense lawyer, which was denied.
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Photo credit: Rhapsody of the Seas – Royal Caribbean; pool deck on Rhapsody of the Seas – Cruzely
