Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
A recent Brevard County Circuit Court filing suggests that “criminal charges” may be brought against a minor allegedly linked to a teen whose cruise ship death is under investigation by the FBI.
The filing, a motion to postpone a custody hearing, confirmed the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner and stated that a “criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children,” according to reporting from The Miami Herald. It was not immediately clear whether the potential charges are linked to Kepner’s death.
The body of Kepner, a senior at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, was found on Nov. 7, aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship by a housekeeper. Her body was allegedly found underneath a bed in her stateroom, according to national media.
At the time of her death, the straight-A student and military hopeful had been traveling in the Caribbean with her father, stepmother and stepsiblings. The night before she died, Kepner allegedly told her family she was not feeling well before returning to her room, according to reporting from CBS News.
Additional information was not immediately available and the investigation is ongoing.
No charges have been filed as of Wednesday. Nov. 19.
It is “standard practice” for the FBI to investigate deaths on cruise ships, according to reporting from USA Today, and the presence of these agents “does not automatically imply suspicious circumstances.”
Cruise Ship Crime: ‘Our Question is Why’
Crimes aboard cruise ships are on the rise, experts say, with the industry reaching a two-year high in 2025. The U.S. Department of Transportation data shows that more than 48 alleged crimes aboard these ships have been reported to the FBI. While this number is on par with 2024 numbers from the same time period, it is more within the same time period seen in the last decade, according to Fox News reporting. Of these incidents, more than two dozen were sexual assaults.
In the latest data reported to the FBI, there were at least six assaults with serious bodily injury, one incident of tampering with the vessel, two incidents of theft greater than $10,000, two missing U.S. passengers, 12 sexual assaults and 24 rapes. These incidents allegedly occurred from July to September, according to USDOT.
In a 2024 article published by the Daily Business Review, Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, said that he does see an uptick in crimes aboard ships but that the increase could be attributed to an increase in passenger population compounded with a lack of security and action from these major corporations. These issues, he said, especially concerning incidents of sexual abuse aboard ships, will continue until there is more enforcement in place to prevent these crimes.
“That’s just kind of a one in a long series of why there’s more sexual abuse and sexual activity on the ships, and I think your question is why? And I think the answer that I see is very lax policing, and very lax training, because a lot of the people … are crew members. This guy was a crew member,” he said.
The firm is handling an ongoing case involving a crew member who placed a hidden camera in the cabins of unsuspecting cruise ship passengers. Many of the passengers who were filmed were children. This crew member was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child sex abuse material.
Despite the sentencing, this nightmare is far from over for these victims. Left reeling with this horrific invasion of privacy, our client was left traumatized.
That case is being handled by Trial Attorney Bernardo Pimentel II.
Representing Victims and Survivors: Previous Leesfield & Partners Cases
In a traumatic case handled by Leesfield & Partners attorneys, a Canadian single woman who was traveling on a cruise ship was raped by a crewmember. The cruise line employee was able to gain entry into the woman’s room using a key card from the ship before he attacked her multiple times. This case resulted in a multi-million-dollar recovery for the woman.
Though not on a cruise ship, Mr. Leesfield and Trial Attorney Carlos A. Fabano previously represented four adults who were sexually abused as children by a church official. Throughout the decades, these individuals have been deeply affected by the abuse they suffered as children at the hands of someone meant to protect and guide them and the ignorance of other adults who knew or should have known but did nothing to stop the abuse from taking place.
A confidential settlement was obtained on behalf of our clients.
Previously, Partner Justin B. Shapiro secured a $16 million settlement on behalf of a couple who were staying at a Florida hotel when they were savagely beaten, and the wife was raped and sexually assaulted by a man who was not a guest at the hotel. The property had no required keycard access on elevators that would have prevented the man from traveling up to the couple’s floor. Additionally, neither security not hotel employees stopped or questioned the man when he entered the property.
The hotel had been previously advised by police and a private security company to hire armed guards due to its previous history of violence. To save money, however, hotel officials did not heed this warning and took no action to improve safety measures to protect its guests or employees. Making matters worse, the attack was witnessed by both employees and the security that the hotel already had. Neither party intervened to try and stop the violent assault.
Leesfield & Partners recovered $8.6 million against a prestigious overnight camp in Florida after they failed to notice the signs of one of their counselors who sexually abused a child in their care.
A well-respected Florida high school was forced to pay multi-million-dollar reparations to numerous students represented by Leesfield & Partners. These reparations were made following the serial sexual abuse our clients suffered at the hands of their teacher.
The firm represented a store clerk who worked at an outlet mall who was sexually assaulted while on the job. This horrific incident happened in the store in the middle of the day. After a careful investigation, our attorneys discovered that it was the absence of security at the mall that contributed to this crime.
Leesfield & Partners obtained over $1.1 million for the client in this case.
In a similar case in which a Key West hotel maid was raped on the job by a man who was not a guest at the hotel, our firm obtained a $1 million recovery.
The firm settled a wrongful death case on behalf of a 25-year-old man who died following an unprovoked punch to the head at a Florida bar. This bar failed to staff the premises with security guards or off-duty police officers who would have deterred and prevented this incident from occurring. The assailant in this case was sentenced to nine years in prison for the young man’s death.
The firm obtained a $1 million settlement from a $25,000 insurance policy in that inadequate security case.
An unaccompanied minor was represented by Leesfield & Partners after she was sexually abused by a passenger on an airline. The child was meant to be under the supervision of flight attendants who failed to properly watch over and protect the child.
A confidential settlement was reached with the airline.
In a child sex abuse case involving a negligent youth center, Leesfield & Partners obtained a $650,000 result for our minor client.
