Key Aspects:
- A Carnival guest was caught with illegal videos on his cellphone while disembarking from Mardi Gras.
- The video depicts adults participating in sexual acts with dogs.
- He was arrested days later on 15 different counts related to animal abuse.
One recent guest of Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras is beginning the new year behind bars.
A recent passenger, named Anthony Ridings, was stopped while going through the US Customs and Border Patrol process after disembarking from a recent Caribbean sailing.
Border control agents had suspicions that the passenger might have illegal videos of children on his cellphone.
But when agents searched his mobile device, they were surprised to find several videos showing adults engaging in bestiality with dogs, which is a form of animal abuse.
It’s unclear how authorities may have become aware of the possible crime, but cruise ships can often detect and flag illegal downloads while guests are using the onboard Wi-Fi.
“Ridings was stopped by our friends at Customs and Border Patrol regarding possible possession of child p— on his cellphone…” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a Facebook post.
“However when Agents looked at the videos, they didn’t find videos of child p—, but instead downloaded videos of adults engaging in sexual activities with dogs,” Ivey continued.
Agent Josh Strait, who works with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit, responded to Port Canaveral to begin the investigation, where Ridings was also interviewed.
During the interview, Ridings allegedly stated that he had the videos to “shock” his friends.
An Arrest is Made
While it’s unclear which sailing Ridings had been a passenger of, he most likely disembarked Mardi Gras when she was last in Port Canaveral (Orlando) on December 27, 2025.
At this time, the Excel-class ship would have been disembarking one sailing and embarking on a new 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise.
Ridings was not arrested right away, but he was finally taken into custody on New Year’s Eve in Daytona Beach.
“Ridings was not taken into custody at the onset of the investigation as Agent Straight was having the cellphone examined by our Digital Forensics Unit for additional evidence of the criminal activity,” Ivey explained.
“Agent Strait subsequently wrote an arrest warrant, signed by the Honorable Judge Laura Moody, for 15 counts of Possession of Material Depicting Sexual Activities Involving Animals,” the Sheriff continued.
As of the time of publication, the cruiser is still in custody and is being held on a $300,000 bond.
Reactions to the Arrest
Cruise fans (and dog lovers) everywhere are rejoicing that this man is being held accountable for his alleged crimes. Many also expressed that they hoped the people in the videos would be caught soon, too.
Note that suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
“This world sure has a lot of sick people in it. Glad he’s in jail,” one person said.
“Another disgusting dirtbag off the streets. Thank you Sheriff. Hope the other people are found and sent to jail too for animal abuse among other things,” someone else chimed in.
Even Sheriff Ivey gave his two cents: “C’mon man, who in their right mind would want to look at or show his buddies that kind of disgusting, sick, vile, demented videos?”
Carnival Cruise Line has not commented publicly on this matter, but has always cooperated with law enforcement investigations in the past.
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