A Virgin Voyages crew member was repatriated to Peru after a fellow crew member accused him of sexually assaulting her aboard the Valiant Lady while the ship was in drydock in Palermo, Italy, according to multiple news sources. Italian authorities have opened an investigation into the assault, which was reported during the vessel’s stay at the Fincantieri shipyard. The repatriation, however, will undoubtedly result in no criminal charges brought against the assailant crew member.
The victim crew member, a 26-year-old from Peru, told investigators that her former partner of about three years, a 32-year-old male crew member, became aggressive after drinking and tried to force himself on her inside the cabin they shared. She reportedly managed to get away and seek help from other crew members, who then alerted authorities.
Italy’s Maritime Border Police interviewed the complainant in a protected setting and documented her allegations. Medical examinations at Palermo’s Polyclinic Hospital found marks on her arms and hands that were described as consistent with her statement to investigators.
The two crew members had reportedly been sharing a cabin with the ship’s permission. The complainant told investigators that there had been arguments in the past, especially when alcohol was involved, but that nothing like this had happened before.
The accused crew member was later removed from the ship, fired, and sent back to Peru. Local reporting in Palermo said he was escorted off the vessel and placed on a return flight, while Cruise Hive reported that the repatriation followed coordination between ship staff and police. It remains doubtful whether criminal charges will follow, an all-too-typical result when a crew member sexually assaults another ship employee.
The case follows another recent crew-on-crew sexual assault when a crew member was arrested after raping a fellow employee aboard the Celebrity Xcel in April.
This crime will not be included in the Department of Transportation (DOT) cruise crime data for two reasons. The first is that crimes are required to be reported only when they occur during an active voyage that embarks from or disembarks at a U.S. port. The second reason is that crimes do not have to be reported if they do not involve a U.S. citizen. In this case, both the victim and assailant were Peruvian.
Of the 43 crimes reported across all cruise lines in the first quarter of 2026, Virgin Voyages reported only one crime.
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Image credit: Crew Center – Valiant Lady (main photo, top); middle photo of police boarding the Valiant Lady – Crew Bar.