New York: A 58-year-old Indian man has been charged with sexually touching a woman sitting next to him on a flight from Los Angeles to New Jersey. Veerabhadrarao Kunam, a resident of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is charged with one count of abusive sexual contact.
He appeared before US Magistrate Judge Joseph Dickson on Tuesday, in Newark federal court and was released on a USD 50,000 secured bond. The charge carries a maximum potential penalty of two years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine.
Kunam was arrested on July 30 when his flight arrived at Newark and was taken into federal custody by the FBI. According to the complaint, Kunam was seated next to a woman who occupied a middle seat on a flight from Los Angeles to Newark. While the plane was in the air, the woman fell asleep. She woke up to find Kunam sexually touching her. Upon noticing, she alerted her male travel companion who traded seats with her and confronted Kunam.
The accused allegedly told the victim's travel companion that he wanted everyone to forget about the incident, and even offered to buy him a drink for any trouble caused.
The man declined Kunam's offer and alerted a flight crew member. A member of the flight crew then moved Kunam to another seat and instructed him not to return to his original seat.
He allegedly told the flight crew member that he would not touch the woman again. The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all sexual abuse cases that occur in flights in the United States.
A spokesperson of the airline said in a statement that the plane's crew was "alerted to reports of a disruptive individual who was accused of inappropriately touching a fellow passenger."
"Our crew are trained for such situations, and they immediately moved the individual-in-question to another seat, monitored him to ensure he did not move from his seat, and alerted law enforcement, who were waiting for the aircraft when it arrived at the New Jersey airport," he said.
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