OAN Staff Abril Elfi
6:05 PM – Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Two Mexican nationals, who are now on immigration holds, were arrested after being accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy in a sauna while on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
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An immigration hold, also known as an ICE detainer, is a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to local law enforcement agencies to hold an individual in custody for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release, allowing ICE to take custody for potential deportation proceedings.
According to jail records, both men have now been jailed without bond and they are on immigration holds.
On Friday, the Mexican nationals, Jose Prudencio Diaz, 36, and Ricardo Daniel Mondragon Leal, 37, were arrested.
They now face several charges, including lewd and lascivious molestation on a child 12-16 years old. One of the men is also facing an additional charge of sexual battery, while the other faces an additional charge for not revealing his HIV status to the minor.
According to arrest reports from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the crimes occurred on Thursday, March 20th.
The 14-year-old victim informed detectives that he was aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship “Independence of the Seas” and he was present in the sauna area alongside Diaz and Leal.
The victim explained to police that while he was in the sauna room with the two men, both suspects proceeded to pleasure themselves in front of him — according to the report.
The report goes on to detail how Diaz and Leal then began touching the victim while using certain fear tactics to force him to touch them back. Leal then purportedly forced the victim to perform a sexual act on him while molesting the minor — according to the complaint.
The arrest report also noted that Leal performed oral sex on the victim as well.
“The defendant, in this case, acting in concert with another defendant, they were both on a cruise,” a prosecutor said in court. “This shows that they tried to target a specific minor, and this could be done again.”
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