Tirso Anthony Neri, 44, of the Philippines was a Disney Cruise Line storekeeper. He was a crew member on the Disney Dream cruise ship based out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida, United States.
Neri earned his bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, Philippines. He was a Chowking kitchen staff member from April 2000 to March 2003 and an RSDG company driver from September 2006 to September 2009 both in the Philippines.
From December 2009 to October 2019, Neri was a Unilever forklift operator in Metro Manila. In January 2020, he joined Disney Cruise Line.
Tirso Neri arrested
On December 18, 2023, Neri was working inside the Disney Dream. When the cruise ship arrived from the Bahamas to Port Everglades that day, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents went to his cabin to conduct a border search of his Samsung and Oppo smartphones.
Found in the two smartphones were numerous sexually explicit photographs and videos of young children. One video has the words “9yrs old sarap”.
Numerous folders containing child pornography images were saved in Neri’s Samsung smartphone in the names of various females. One folder created between July 2019 and December 2019 contained photos of a girl, then 17.
When Neri was interviewed, he said he was in several Telegram and Facebook Messenger chat groups where he downloads and buys adult pornography. He was arrested.
According to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court on April 15, 2024, Neri was charged with possession of child pornography and transportation of child pornography. As of April 16, 2024, he was being held in the Broward Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale.
CONAN Daily 