Federal jury finds man guilty of attempted sexual abuse on cruise out of South Florida

A federal jury in Broward County has convicted a man of attempted sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact of a woman while inside the casino of a Norwegian cruise ship that left PortMiami in 2024.

Brent Arthur Gilpin, 48, of Palm Coast, was found guilty at trial on Feb. 4, federal court records show. His sentencing is scheduled for April in Fort Lauderdale.

Gilpin and a 21-year-old woman, who did not previously know one another, were at the casino’s bar aboard the Norwegian Jade on Dec. 8, 2024, shortly after 12:30 a.m. as the ship sailed to Costa Maya, Mexico, according to a criminal complaint. CCTV footage showed the woman was alone at the bar when Gilpin approached and started a conversation with her.

The woman grew increasingly more intoxicated while she was standing at the bar with Gilpin, the complaint said. After she fell over multiple times, security staff requested a wheelchair to take the woman back to her cabin.

While waiting for the wheelchair, Gilpin positioned the woman on his lap, facing him as he sat on a stool near a slot machine, the complaint said. The woman was apparently unconscious as Gilpin tried to kiss her and groped her inside of her clothing, the complaint said.

Gilpin had told security he was friends with the woman, to which she replied, “he is not my friend,” according to the complaint. Gilpin “raised his hands in the air and backed away.” As cruise line staff took her back to her room in the wheelchair, the woman drifted in and out of consciousness, the complaint said.

The victim in an interview with authorities said she did not know Gilpin and had no memory of what happened after he approached her. In a written statement Gilpin gave to the cruise line, he said he met the woman at the bar before she fell to the ground and was taken back to her room.

Gilpin faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison for attempted sexual abuse and up to three years in prison for abusive sexual contact, federal prosecutors said.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/02/25/federal-jury-finds-man-guilty-of-attempted-sexual-abuse-on-cruise-out-of-south-florida/