Off-Duty Pilot Allegedly Gropes Sleeping 14-Year-Old Girl on Flight

An off-duty pilot traveling on a Delta flight from Detroit to Salt Lake City allegedly groped the butt of a 14-year-old girl sleeping next to him.

The girl, who was traveling as an unaccompanied minor, was on crutches due to an injured foot. She boarded early and took a window seat next to the off-duty pilot. Here are the awful details of the flight from The Smoking Gun:

As detailed in the complaint, the girl (who is only identified by her initials, “R.S.”) told investigators that after having a short conversation with Pascal about her injury, “I made sure I had the armrest down because I usually feel uncomfortable when people get to close to me.”

The teenager said she later fell asleep in a seated position “with her legs pulled close to her chest and her feet on her seat.” When she awoke, the girl recalled, she noticed Pascal’s hand “under the left cheek of her buttocks.” The hand, she noted, was “far enough under her buttocks that his fingers were touching her inner thigh.”

Agent Smilie reported that the girl described feeling Pascal’s hand as “being palm up and feeling him gripping her buttocks but not moving.” The armrest between her and Pascal “was in the upright position” and some of Pascal’s body weight was on her.

Pascal’s eyes were open and he “was clearly awake,” the teenager told investigators.

I repeat: It was a 14-year-old girl who was traveling alone. You know, a kid we’re supposed to take care of and watch out for.

The girl allegedly elbowed him and asked “What the hell are you doing?” before hitting the call button and (bravely, awesomely) speaking up about the incident. The child was moved to the back of the plane and when they landed in Utah, the full-grown man was interviewed by law enforcement officials. He claimed to have fallen asleep with his hands in his lap, but did not recall “where his hands were when he was awoken” by the girl’s thrown elbow and her “What the hell are you doing?” demand. He says he moved the armrest up because he “needed more room”.

The 45-year-old man was charged with abusive sexual contact on an aircraft in a felony complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

Annnnd with that, I never flew again and I never let anyone I know every fly again and also, I banned my nieces from growing older ever.