A federal court in Brooklyn, New York, has accepted guilty pleas on five counts of sexual abuse of a 21-year-old cadet by the senior officer on a US-flagged bulk carrier in 2019.
John Merrone was captain of the 50,000 dwt bulker Liberty Glory with two US Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) cadets aboard when he drugged both women and sexually assaulted one of them.
Joseph Nocella, Jr., US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James Barnacle Jr., assistant director in charge, FBI, New York Field Office, announced the guilty plea yesterday.
“Former Captain John Merrone grossly violated his authority by drugging and raping a US Merchant Marine cadet training aboard his ship. The FBI is dedicated to holding accountable those in trusted roles from heinously abusing the brave servicemembers protecting this country,” said Barnacle.
The victim, identified only as Jane Doe, joined the Liberty Glory to complete the sea year element of her training.
In September 2019 en route from Bahrain to Corpus Christi in Texas, the then 47-year-old Merrone called the two cadets to his quarters for soft drinks. Instead, he poured alcoholic drinks laced with an “intoxicant”.
The Courthouse Chronicle reported that the defendant told the court: ““Jane drank alcohol, I knowingly gave her an intoxicant without her knowledge or consent. Jane became incapacitated. I then had sex with her without her consent.”
Neither Jane Doe nor her fellow cadet can remember what happened after they drank their drinks, according to the US District Attorney’s papers. Jane Doe awoke wearing only a shirt and questioned the captain on what happened the previous night.
“Merrone told her, ‘One thing led to another.’ Jane Doe reported the sexual assault to her mother and a friend when she returned to the United States, and sought medical attention. She reported the attack to law enforcement in 2021,” according to the DA’s office.
Jane’s attorney, Ryan Melogy of the law firm Justice4Mariners, said that Ms Doe wept after she heard Merrone’s admission of guilt, saying “It’s over”.
Melogy said that the US Justice Department had not brought sexual assault charges for crimes on a US cargo ship for more than 40 years.
“Sex crimes are notoriously difficult to prosecute in general. When they occur in the middle of the ocean, aboard a ship, the level of difficulty involved in prosecuting them probably increases exponentially,” Melogy said.