Indecent assault on high seas

A TRIP of a lifetime turned into a nightmare for an Australian cruise ship passenger on her way to New Zealand.

On October 13 last year the Sea Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, departed Brisbane bound for Auckland.

On board was Australian citizen Eduard-Laurentia Popeea, a man in his mid-60s who was excited about the trip.

But three days later, while at sea, the cruise took a nasty turn after a night out drinking ended in criminal charges for Popeea.

In the High Court at Auckland yesterday, Justice Graham Lang went over the events of the night.

Popeea had gone to a nightclub on the ship with a friend, where they approached a group of women and shared drinks.

Popeea and one of the women then went back to his cabin.

Once there Popeea, who is of Romanian descent and needed a translator in court, took off his clothes and placed the woman’s hand on his genitals.

She fell asleep and he touched her genitalia, then she woke up and left the cabin.

When the ship arrived in Auckland the woman made a complaint to police and said she had been unable to protest as she was ‘‘drunk and scared’’.

Popeea was initially facing three more serious charges, but these had been downgraded to a single charge of indecent assault.

His lawyer, Andrew Speed, said Popeea took responsibility for the offending and it had come as a great shock to himself and his family.

The judge said Popeea had been forced to remain in New Zealand for some time following the charges and as a result had lost the right to receive superannuation in Australia.

He ordered Popeea to pay the victim A$5000 reparation and NZ$3000 in court costs.