The U.S. Department of Homeland Security intercepted Tirso Neri from the Philippines at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Monday, and took him into custody on child porn charges.
The Disney Cruise Line employee was charged with possession of pornography and transportation of child pornography in a federal criminal complaint obtained by People. Neri worked on the Disney Dream ship and was allegedly found to be in possession of sexually explicit photographs and videos of young children on two cell phones that belonged to him, according to People. Authorities claimed to have located the images on his Samsung Galaxy as well as an Oppo smartphone.
NEW: Third Disney Cruise Line crew member busted on child pornography charges.
Tirso Neri, a 44-year-old crew member on the Disney Dream ship, was arrested by the law enforcement who discovered sexually explicit images and videos of girls as young as 9 on his phone.
Neri, who… pic.twitter.com/yJFYsCvvi8
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The child sex abuse material was found on the ship in December when it docked in Fort Lauderdale. The criminal complaint said authorities discovered a folder on the Samsung phone that was “titled with the name of an apparent victim that contained numerous sexually explicit pictures and videos of an Asian girl who appeared to be under 18 years of age,” according to People.
Authorities said the folder appeared to have been downloaded at some point around Aug. 2019.
𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿
A Disney Cruise Line worker was arrested on child porn charges.
Tirso Neri, a 44-year-old crew member on the Disney Dream ship, was arrested for… pic.twitter.com/CmHUOFfyW2
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Neri told law enforcement he was a member of several social media chat groups and downloaded adult pornography. When authorities questioned him further about the folders containing child pornography on the Samsung phone, he replied by saying that “sometimes he obtains folders in the chat groups and saves them to his phone without looking at them and then deletes them after,” according to People.
Disney’s cruise ship Magic sits at the dock in the harbor as the sun sets November 29, 2009 in Key West, Florida. KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images
Forensic examinations on Neri’s Oppo smartphone allegedly uncovered numerous images of child sex abuse material, according to People. Authorities claimed there were videos “that were saved in a folder titled ‘Private.'” (RELATED: Prosecutors Charge Netflix Star’s Son With Child Porn Possession, Court Documents Say: REPORT)
It is not yet clear if Neri has retained an attorney nor if he has entered a plea in this case. No information has been provided about the alleged victims in this case, which continues to unfold.