Delta passenger gropes 15-year-old on flight and is arrested when plane lands, feds say
Flight attendants changed a man’s seat on a Delta Air Lines flight upon learning he groped a 15-year-old traveler sitting next to him, federal prosecutors said.
Jack Allen Roberson, 69, of Andrews, North Carolina, was arrested after the plane arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from Atlanta on Sunday, July 16, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
Roberson is accused of placing his hand on the teenager’s thigh, then moving his hand under her skirt, prosecutors said.
Now he’s facing a charge of abusive sexual contact on an aircraft, the attorney’s office announced in a July 17 news release.
Roberson is due in court for a detention hearing scheduled for July 19, the release said.
McClatchy News contacted a federal public defender appointed to represent Roberson for comment on July 18 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
When the 15-year-old boarded the flight to Seattle with her aunt on July 16, they found Roberson sitting in the wrong seat, an aisle seat, according to a complaint filed in court.
After Roberson moved to his correct seat, a window seat, the 15-year-old sat next to him in the middle, the complaint says.
Shortly after the plane took off, the 15-year-old picked up Roberson’s headphones after he dropped them, according to the complaint.
In response, he said “thank you, I don’t know what I would do without you,” the complaint says.
Sometime afterward, the teenager felt him touch her thigh, which she thought was accidental because he appeared to be asleep, according to the complaint.
Then, he “slowly moved his hands up her thigh, and under her skirt,” the complaint says.
The teenager then alerted her aunt, who switched seats with her before notifying the flight crew about Roberson touching her niece — resulting in him getting a new seat, according to the complaint.
In an interview with federal investigators after the flight landed, Roberson said he had eight alcoholic beverages prior to boarding the flight to Seattle and drank two double vodka tonics on the flight, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
He told investigators he patted the 15-year-old’s thigh while thanking her for retrieving his headphones before he purportedly fell asleep, the complaint says.
If convicted on the charge of abusive sexual contact aboard an aircraft, Roberson could be sentenced up to two years in prison and fined $250,000, according to prosecutors.
“Delta has zero tolerance for criminal activity of any type on our flights and at our airports,” a Delta Air Lines spokesperson told McClatchy News in a statement on July 18. “As such, we work with the requisite authorities when passengers engage in such activity to ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
Andrews is about 95 miles southwest of Asheville.
If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.
Passenger gropes 2 women, including mom taking care of baby, on JetBlue flight, feds say
Passenger sexually abused a minor on cross-country American Airlines flight, feds say
Doctor groped woman mid-flight while headed to propose to girlfriend, feds say
