This claim arose out of an alleged sexual assault by Mangampat that took place in 2019 on the Maltese-registered Celebrity Equinox, a commercial cruise ship, which was travelling from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. According to an incident report by cruise ship security staff, the Celebrity Equinox was located at approximately 21 degrees 57.3 minutes north latitude, 70 degrees 30.1 minutes west longitude at the relevant time. The nearest point of land was the Great Turk Island, approximately 40.5 nautical miles away.

On 29 October 2019, the United States filed an information charging Mangampat with sexual abuse by force in violation of 18 USC § 2241(a)(1). Mangampat filed a motion to dismiss the indictment for lack of jurisdiction. Mangampat argued that the United States does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate this matter as the alleged offences did not occur in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

Held: Motion to deny is dismissed.

Title 18, USC § 2241(a)(1) provides that a person 'in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States' who 'knowingly causes another person to engage in a sexual act ... by using force against that other person shall be fined or imprisoned or both. Title 18, USC § 7 defines 'special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States' as including

[t]he high seas, any other waters within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any particular State, and any vessel belonging in whole or in part to the United States or any citizen thereof, or to any corporation created by or under the laws of the United States, or of any State, Territory, District, or possession thereof, when such vessel is within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any particular State.

'Outside the territorial sea are the high seas': United States v Louisiana 394 US 11, 23 (1969). As the Fourth Circuit has explained, '[t]he weight of authority points to an outer territorial limit [for the territorial seas of any nation] of twelve nautical miles'. See United States v Beyle 782 F 3d 159, 167-68 (4th Cir 2015):

UNCLOS explicitly restricts territorial seas from extending farther than twelve nautical miles from national coastlines. UNCLOS, supra, art. 3. At the time of the piracy at issue in this case, 161 nations had ratified UNCLOS, including Somalia. With nearly 170 signatory nations today, UNCLOS enjoys widespread acceptance in the international community. As noted above, although the United States is not a signatory to UNCLOS, this country recognizes the treaty's place as an accurate reflection of customary international law. It is, moreover, the policy of the United States not to respect claims that a territorial sea extends beyond twelve nautical miles. ... Consistent with UNCLOS, the United States itself claims a territorial sea extending up to twelve nautical miles. 18 U.S.C. § 2280(e); Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp., 488 U.S. 428, 441 n.8, 109 S. Ct. 683, 102 L. Ed. 2d 818 (1989); 33 C.F.R. § 2.22(a)(1)(ii), (iii), (iv) (applying a U.S. territorial sea of twelve nautical miles for determining U.S. criminal jurisdiction and the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction, and for interpreting international law); Proclamation No. 5928, 54 Fed. Reg. 777 (Dec. 27, 1988) (extending the U.S. territorial sea to twelve nautical miles “in accordance with international law”).

We, too, have repeatedly stated that a nation's territorial waters generally extend to twelve nautical miles. See United States v. Shibin, 722 F.3d 233, 239 (4th Cir. 2013) [(CMI491)]; Dire, 680 F.3d at 460 n.11; Titanic, 171 F.3d at 965.

As such, the United States has jurisdiction to try this matter.