A four-day Carnival cruise that began and ended in Tampa ended with a federal arrest after a Georgia man allegedly attacked his fiancée aboard the ship, kicking her and throwing her down a stairwell. Noah Alexander Cox, 28, was taken into custody Thursday after the Carnival Paradise returned to Port Tampa Bay.
The criminal complaint filed in Tampa federal court charges Cox with assault by striking, beating, or wounding within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. The Independent reported that the charge was filed alongside an FBI probable-cause affidavit detailing the alleged attack.
According to the affidavit, Cox and his fiancée had gotten engaged before the cruise. After an argument soon after the ship left Tampa, Carnival staff separated them into different rooms and revoked their drinking privileges for the rest of the sailing, with the woman moved to room 189 while Cox remained in their original cabin.
During a port call in Cozumel, Mexico, the couple went ashore and had numerous drinks before arguing again and returning to the ship separately. The affidavit alleges that Cox later forced his way into his fiancée’s room after she refused to open the door, and that a sexual encounter became nonconsensual before he poured lotion over her, kicked her in the midsection and threw her down a nearby stairwell.
Shipboard surveillance video allegedly captured the sequence, including Cox kicking and ramming the cabin door, entering the room and later following the woman toward the stairs. The Independent reported that the woman suffered contusions to her arms, legs, feet, shoulder and buttocks, received medical treatment aboard the ship and underwent a forensic sexual-assault examination.
Why The FBI Handled The Tampa Case
When the Carnival Paradise returned to Tampa Thursday, the cruise line’s security department contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, which then contacted the FBI. The bureau explains that jurisdiction over cruise-ship crimes can depend on the vessel’s location, the nationalities of the people involved, the ship’s ownership and its ports of departure and arrival.
The FBI also advises cruise passengers to report serious incidents to ship security immediately because investigators may have only a short window to preserve surveillance footage, medical records and other evidence. Earlier this month, Hoodline reported on the Tampa field office’s warning that passengers and witnesses should not stay silent about serious crimes at sea.
What Cox Is Charged With
Cox’s federal charge carries a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison if he is convicted, according to the criminal complaint and affidavit. Cox does not have an attorney listed in court records and declined to speak with FBI agents without a lawyer present; he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
