A 58-year-old Indian national has been charged with sexually abusing a sleeping woman passenger aboard a flight from Los Angeles to New Jersey.
Veerabhadrarao Kunam of Visakhapatnam was arrested by the FBI on July 30— the day his flight arrived in Newark— and taken into federal custody.
He has been charged with one count of abusive sexual contact. He appeared on Monday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court and was released on $50,000 secured bond, a statement said.
According to the complaint, Kunam was seated next to a woman who occupied a middle seat on a Virgin America flight from Los Angeles to Newark Liberty International Airport. While the plane was in the air, the woman fell asleep. She awoke to find Kunam inappropriately touching her. She alerted her male travel companion who traded seats with the victim and confronted Kunam.
Kunam allegedly told the victim’s travel companion that he wanted everyone to forget about the incident and offered to buy him a drink for any trouble he may have caused.
The travel companion declined Kunam’s offer and alerted a flight crew member about what had occurred, the complaint said. Kunam was then moved to another seat.
The abusive sexual contact charge carries a maximum potential penalty of two years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine.
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