A 38-year-old Guatemalan cruise ship lifeguard admitted to having sex twice with a 17-year-old passenger — and the only reason he's facing charges is that the ship eventually sailed back to Miami. On international waters, jurisdiction is a ghost, and predators know it.
Rafael Cayetano Blanco, a lifeguard aboard the MSC World America, exchanged numbers with the teen on Aug. 16, the first day of the cruise, according to a police report obtained by NBC Miami and reported by the New York Post. The girl went to his cabin that night. She came back three days later. Both times, according to Blanco's own confession, they had sex. The ship had departed Miami on Aug. 15 with stops in Honduras, Mexico, and the Bahamas — meaning the assaults likely occurred in international waters or foreign territorial seas, where no single police force has clear authority.
Blanco was arrested Saturday when the vessel returned to port in Miami. He's charged with unlawful sexual activity of a minor and is being held on an immigration detainer, records show. MSC issued a statement saying the crew member was dismissed and that the company
