Cruise Ship Jumper Now Faces Sex Charges

Cops Say Man Took Boys On Cruises And Into Home; Rescued In March After Falling Overboard

(CBS/AP)  A man who jumped from a cruise ship off Florida's coast and was rescued about eight hours later by the Coast Guard, was arrested Tuesday on sex charges, authorities said.

Michael Mankamyer, 35, of Orlando was charged with sexual battery not likely to cause injury and lewd or lascivious molestation on a victim older than 12, said Liz Malavet, of the Orange County jail's inmate records. Mankamyer was being held without bond and his first court appearance is Wednesday, she said.

A police report says the incidents happened at Mankamyer's home, and after the pair had been drinking, reports CBS News correspondent Peter King.

The charges stem from an FBI investigation into Mankamyer's fall about 70 feet after jumping from the balcony of his room aboard the Carnival Glory in March, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

He had been vacationing with his godson, also under 18, but investigators say the godson is not the victim in this case.

Mankamyer allegedly got into a fight with his godson over whether the boy could go to a club on the ship to hang out with girls, which is why he jumped overboard. This sparked the curiosity of investigators, and after talking to his godson's friends, one of them came forward, saying he had had been molested by him, reports Brian Andrews of CBS station WFOR.

Mankamyer, an MRI technician at Florida Hospital South, said he was innocent and did not know why he was in custody.

"To prevent violence, we removed him from the neighborhood," Sgt. Rich Mankewich of the sheriff's sex-crimes unit told the Sentinel, adding that the boys' parents only learned of the incidents Tuesday.

Mankamyer also declined to speak with investigators, saying he had retained a lawyer. The name of his attorney was not immediately known.

The FBI reviewed cruise ship records that revealed Mankamyer had escorted at least four teenage boys on separate cruises, Sgt. Rich Mankewich of the sheriff's sex crimes unit told the newspaper.

The boys were children of parents Mankamyer befriended, Mankewich said.

Telephone messages, pages and an e-mail left for the sheriff's office after hours were not immediately returned.

[dontbasucka]

Aren't you glad you have noting to do with kooks like the one who posted:

"AAAhhhh, another GOP/Religious Reich Pedophile for Jeebus,....makes a Republican proud.....
Posted by veteran71 at 01:52 PM : May 30, 2007"

They are to scared to stand for something so they go through life believing in nothing but take pot shots at everyone who stands up and tries.

veteran71 I bet is a veteran of nothing. Post your PayPal account and I'll send you some money so you and Rosie O'Donnell can go on one of these cruises and take potshots at everything while you do more nothing.

[flolake]

I suspect the very last lad told the perp off & the perp did the drama queen thang by jumping ship but managed to stay afloat for this next chapter...

Big mistake, Mr. perv... Betcha that last lad has a story of molestation or the attempt(s) thereof to tell as well.

[complexities]

Some parents don't care about their kids, but there's lots of other reasons. Some parents are mislead into thinking there are signs they can look for, and absent those signs, the adult is safe. Or if they've known a person for 20 years, that makes them safe. Some parents are just clueless and the idea doesn't even cross their mind. Some parents don't know how fast and easy it is for an adult to molest a child. It can be easily done while parents are close by!

Plus, parents don't consider things, such as when their daughter spends the night at her girlfriend's house. Are the friend's father and brothers safe? What about when fathers drive kids back and forth to activities? He's probably just a nice dad, but how do you KNOW? And exactly how DO you tell a 3 year old that she has to obey her teacher... except if the teacher tries to molest you.

It's impossible to completely protect your kids without simultaneously harming them with your protection. You want to keep their innocence and trust as that's so important for a child's development, but YOU KNOW what's out there, and you want to keep them safe. That balance is NOT easy, even for the most aware and vigilant of parents.

I'm a sexual abuse survivor. My father molested me for 8 years (1,000 times?). Both brothers molested me (just 3 times). I was kicked out when I told. Started therapy at 44, still going at 46. I have discontinued all contact with my family. They blame me, not my father. It's too late to prosecute him now.

[bloggerbud]

A pity the sharks didn't get him first.

[ecuadoriana]

"A certain amount of emotional and mental collusion is required on the part of the parents--to consent on some level to place their kids in harms way..." Posted by toldyouso21 at 01:04 PM : May 30, 2007

Agreed! Too many parents can't wait to dump their kids off on a free babysitter: The minister invites their son on a camping trip & they're stunned that their child gets molested. The coach invites their son over for pizza parties & they're shocked their kid gets drunk & rap-d. The really nice old lady down the street always offers to babysit & the parents are horrified that their toddler has been fondled. When parents choose to let adults spent time alone with their kids, they're choosing to put their kids in danger.

If parents spent less time obsessing on their own selfish lives & careers, their obscenely huge TVs (which serve double duty as babysitters), their shiny new super cool ringtone microscopic cell phones, golf games & spa treatments...& spent more time paying attention to their kids, what their kids are doing & who they're with there would certainly be a lot less crime in general. Not only do they put their kids at risk of being hurt, but their kids are at risk for becoming criminals themselves (I want to beat the parents who are shocked that their kids have been hiding guns, drugs & stolen items in their rooms!)

[iiicorps1969]

Why say, "Telephone messages, pages and an e-mail left for the sheriff's office after hours were not immediately returned" when it is unlikely they will be returned at all? If they wern't returned in time for the story deadline, just say they weren't returned. My sixth grade grammar teacher would have awarded points off for using "immediately."

[juliemd]

Just another good reason to stay off those cruise ships...yuck!

[lambofgoth]

jayce1066: When they said he lived in Florida and molested little boys.

[nlm2383]

I don't think it would matter hober_mallow... From what I get he wouldn't mind.

[jayce1066]

Where the heck was his religion or political affiliation mentioned?

[minminmin-2009]

What a bizarre dude. Jumps overboard? leaving the young lad on his own. It says they rescued him 8 hours later....was he in the water all that time? wow. Hope justice prevails here (perv!)

[toldyouso21]

kids five and under suffer all the abuse in the world, they don't lose their minds ... kids six and over suffer almost no abuse, and they lose their minds all the time ... '
' ... maybe the arresting officer should be arrested for having looked the other way for so long ... '
' ... the trouble with kids is, they don't look like insects ... for all the insects in a yard, few are executed or otherwise tortured ... if kids looked like insects, nobody would force them into proper attire (which is treason, as is torturing enemy combatants) ... '
Posted by vinepetal904 at 12:35 PM : May 30, 2007


Hello. I note you always write drivel. Kids over 6 are often sexually abused, who in the mental institution where you obviously are, has allowed you so much access to the computer. They need to up your dose of Thorazine.

[toldyouso21]

Posted by ttinsly at 12:28 PM : May 30, 2007


What we need to understand is that molestations are almost always crimes of opportunity. They usually result from parental negligence or misplaced trust in family members. friends, teachers, preachers, coaches, scout leaders etc.

A certain amount of emotional and mental collusion is required on the part of the parents--to consent on some level to place their kids in harms way: to consent to sleepovers where males are present, to leave kids alone with adults or allow them to go on overnight trips--to have so little imagination and sense of duty that they just cannot imagine that the men in their lives could ever sexually exploit their kids--so they place them in the care of their dads, grandfathers, brothers, older male siblings..etc.

Many men are NOT molesters, but any man or boy with a *** potentially can be (as can a woman but they only comprise less than 5% of known cases) The horrible truth is: that along with the parental collusion is the fact that the predator COUNTS on this and uses it to keep their victims willing and quiet. after all, if the parents have to be awakened from their dream that all is well--who wants to be the one to tell them what "daddy or grandpa, or uncle or cousin--or pastor...... did to them? So the victims keep quiet and endure.

Nix the sleepovers and the overnight trips if you can't be there too--and nix that, if you are a male with a penchant for young meat.

[vinepetal904]

' ... kids five and under suffer all the abuse in the world, they don't lose their minds ... kids six and over suffer almost no abuse, and they lose their minds all the time ... '
' ... maybe the arresting officer should be arrested for having looked the other way for so long ... '
' ... the trouble with kids is, they don't look like insects ... for all the insects in a yard, few are executed or otherwise tortured ... if kids looked like insects, nobody would force them into proper attire (which is treason, as is torturing enemy combatants) ... '

[toldyouso21]

Yeah. right. More than likely this **** pedaphile also molested his godson but the boy is not talking. Sexual predators rarely stop with one victim--the fact that the boy wanted to see girls--despite the attentions of his "godfather" indicate that there is even more to this, than meets the eye and somebody is not talking.

[jetlizhan]

hober_mallow

i'm betting he hopes he DOES drop the soap!!!

[dnamj]

Yeah ummm... "Hey can I take your underage boy on a Caribbean cruise?".

The answer is "no". Any more questions?

[hober_mallow]

When he's in prison, I hope he doesn't drop the soap.

[ralan40]

I guess I'm missing something.
Why do people let their kids go on cruises alone with the parent's "friends"?
Why do people leave their small kids alone in a hotel room by themselves to have dinner somewhere else?
Why do parent's allow their children to stay overnight at Micheal Jackson's house with the possiblity he may be a sexual predator?

Parents have to start protecting their children better.

Posted by Yory at 11:25 AM : May 30, 2007

Don't forget: Why do people let their kids talk to stangers online and unsupervised?

You know why? Because some parents are too selfish these days to care about anything if they can pony their kids off on someone else.

Some of them should be prosecuted for being accessories to corruption of a minor.

[yory-2009]

I guess I'm missing something.
Why do people let their kids go on cruises alone with the parent's "friends"?
Why do people leave their small kids alone in a hotel room by themselves to have dinner somewhere else?
Why do parent's allow their children to stay overnight at Micheal Jackson's house with the possiblity he may be a sexual predator?

Parents have to start protecting their children better.