A crew member of the Holland America Line was taken into custody on suspicion of child pornography.
According to an arrest document signed by Homeland Security Investigations special agent Michelle Maglione, when police searched Koen Leonard Eyck’s electronic devices upon his arrival at Port Everglades on Saturday, they discovered sexually explicit photographs and pictures of minors. Eyck, 35, was employed on the Nieuw Statendam ship of the line.
His involvement onboard was not made clear in the affidavit. According to the affidavit, Eyck’s iPhone’s WhatsApp and Telegram chats contained content of child sexual assault that showed children as young as four or six years old.
In March 2023, the Dutch national was also accused of paying $35 for connections that included child pornography.
According to the affidavit, Eyck acknowledged to police that he had used PayPal to purchase child sexual abuse materials and that he had received connections via Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram.
According to the affidavit, “he acknowledged receiving links for child sex abuse material for the past 5-10 years.” It is “illegal to possess child pornography all over the world,” according to Eyck.
He has been accused of both possessing and transporting child pornography. A request for response from Eyck’s attorneys was not immediately answered.
“We have zero tolerance for criminal behavior, and these allegations are extremely disturbing,” a Holland America representative informed USA TODAY. “We immediately fired the person involved and are fully cooperating with law enforcement.”
In recent months, there have been more similar cases on cruise ships. After three Disney Cruise Line crew members and a Celebrity Cruises employee were arrested on child pornography charges between January and April, two Carnival Cruise Line crew members were arrested on the same allegation in July.
Child exploitation is “significantly higher across the board,” not only in the cruise industry, according to Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations Miami, who spoke to USA TODAY in August.
When he remarked, “If it’s up across the board, you’re going to see it up across the cruise ships,” for example.
