Man Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Girl on Disney Ship

A New York man has admitted to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl on a Disney Cruise Line ship.

Lucas Wickes, 25, of Rochester, pleaded guilty before a judge in federal court to charges of abusive sexual contact at sea, reports the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

The incident occurred on the 1,800-passenger Disney Wonder on Jan. 1, 2007, during a New Year's cruise from Port Canaveral, near Orlando, to the Bahamas.

Wickes met up with the girl as she left the ship's teen club, according to the U.S. criminal complaint. The girl said she thought he was a ship security officer, so she followed his orders to accompany him to an aft area of the ship, where she was sexually assaulted, the Rochester paper reports.

Wickes admitted he had sexual contact with the girl, but said it was consensual, and that he believed she was 17.

In 2008, prosecutors in the Bahamas failed to make a rape case against Wickes in the incident, though he was ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 for indecent assault or face six months in prison. He paid the fine.



Photo, Russ Neumeier, flickr