PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – A Central Florida 17-year-old girl is suing Carnival cruise line after she says security officers came to her room and strip searched her, accused her of bringing drugs on to the ship.
The lawsuit said the girl was on the Carnival Sensation out of Port Canaveral with family members for a four-day cruise to the Bahamas in April 2011 when three ship employees went into the teen's room after a stop in Nassau.
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The employees made the teen take her underwear off, lift her dress up and made her go to the bathroom where they watched her urinate, according to the lawsuit. The officials also made her take out her tampon so they could visually inspect her, according to the lawsuit.
The security officer said they had found a bag with "green leaves" inside the elevator the teen had been riding in. According to the lawsuit, the teen and her mother were taken off the ship and she was put in a Bahamian holding cell with an adult woman, where she was assaulted. She was released from jail the next day without penalty. She is seeking more than $75,000 in damages in the lawsuit.
Carnival officials said the claim is false.