A Margaritaville cruise ship bartender is accused of raping a passenger in her cabin. The cruise passenger claimed she needed to get an abortion after being impregnated by the bartender.
![A Margaritaville cruise ship bartender is accused of raping a passenger in her cabin. The cruise passenger claimed she needed to get an abortion after being impregnated by the bartender.](https://theloadedgunn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/A-Margaritaville-cruise-ship-bartender-is-accused-of-raping-a-780x470.jpg)
A Margaritaville cruise ship bartender is accused of raping a passenger in her cabin. The cruise passenger claimed she needed to get an abortion after being impregnated by the bartender.
An anonymous woman, Jane Doe, from West Virginia filed a federal lawsuit against Classica’s Margaritaville at Sea cruise line in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Doe and a female travel companion – named “HB” in court documents – were aboard the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise ship headed to the Bahamas from Riviera Beach, Florida.
On May 5, the women ordered alcoholic beverages on the ship.
“They both charged the beverages to their cabin number, thereby providing crew members staffing the bar access to their shared cabin number and room key,” the lawsuit states.
After finishing their drinks, the women returned to their cabin around 1 a.m.
The travel companion admitted that she had been “pretty intoxicated” after reaching her 10-drink limit.
The filing claims that their 24-year-old bartender, Hoobesh Kumar Dookhy, snuck into their cabin in the middle of the night with the stolen key card.
“HB stated that she was sleeping when she was awakened by a male subject touching her breasts, kissing her neck, and vaginally penetrating her,” the lawsuit alleges.
Fox News reported, “Dookhy and the women agree that he took his phone out to photograph the women, who slept naked, as he groped them. The woman filing a civil suit also claims that she took out her phone to videotape Dookhy sexually assaulting her friend for evidence after asking him to leave.”
Jane Doe reported the sexual assault to cruise ship staff the next morning.
Investigators allegedly found HB’s room key in the pocket of Dookhy’s work vest, as well as a naked photo of her.
Doe – who is married – claimed that she was pregnant several months later. She allegedly admitted that she hadn’t taken a paternity test, but argued that she and her husband hadn’t been sexually active at the time of the alleged assault because of medical reasons.
Doe reportedly traveled out of state to get an abortion after the alleged sexual assault resulted in pregnancy.
The woman is seeking $75,000 in damages from Classica’s Margaritaville at Sea cruise line. Doe claims to have “suffered physical, emotional and psychological pain,” as well as “embarrassment, humiliation, sustained mental anguish,” and “aggravation and activation of preexisting conditions, and sustained disability and the inability to lead a normal life.”
HB previously filed a lawsuit over the alleged sexual assault. However, U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg shot down her request for punitive damages. She is currently seeking compensatory damages from the cruise line.
Doe’s attorney, Spencer Aronfeld, told the Palm Beach Post that the two cases are “completely different” because Doe “became pregnant, and was forced to terminate the pregnancy from which she suffered serious complications.”
In an interview with FBI agents, Dookhy allegedly confessed to drinking alcohol the night of the alleged sexual assault. However, he initially claimed that he had participated in consensual sex with HB.
Yet, Dookhy accepted a plea deal last year, where he avoided the possibility of life behind bars by pleading guilty to one count of abusive sexual contact.
Dookhy is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 11. He faces up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
A spokesperson for Margaritaville at Sea Paradise declined USA Today’s request for comment.
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