Defendants in two different cases sentenced to prison for abusive sexual contact on aircraft flying to Seattle

Press Release

Indian National sentenced to 15 months in prison for assaulting high school student sleeping on international flight

Seattle - Two men were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle in separate instances of sexually assaulting passengers seated near them on aircraft flying to Seattle, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Indian citizen Abhinav Kumar, 39, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his May 2024 conviction at trial of abusive sexual contact. Desmond D. Bostick was sentenced to nine months in prison for assault with intent to commit a felony. Bostick pleaded guilty in April 2024. Both sentences were imposed by U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead.

"The Western District of Washington continues to see an increase in cases involving sexual assault aboard aircraft, and we have a zero-tolerance policy," said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. "These cases demonstrate that there are real consequences for this predatory behavior. Those who prey on passengers on flights coming to Seattle face prosecution and loss of their freedom."

According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, Abhinav Kumar was arrested at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Sunday, February 18, 2024, after groping the breast of a juvenile sitting near him on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Seattle. The victim was traveling with family members who were sitting in the seats in front of the victim and across the aisle from the victim. Kumar was seated in a window seat with an open center seat between him and the victim. Kumar engaged the 17-year-old in conversation and asked her to meet him for coffee. She politely declined the invitation.

Later, while the victim was trying to sleep under a blanket, Kumar spread his blanket over himself and over the middle seat. The on-board video shows the movement of his arm under the blanket reaching toward the victim.

The sleeping victim awoke to feel a hand under her blanket, and she pulled away. The hand returned, moving up her arm, then inside her shirt, and eventually reaching her breast. The victim froze at first but then got up and asked her mother to come to the bathroom with her. The Emirates crew was notified, and they alerted law enforcement to meet the plane. Kumar was arrested and convicted following a three-day jury trial.

In asking for a 21-month prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court, "Kumar took advantage of a vulnerable 17-year-old girl by assaulting her while she was asleep. He reached inside her shirt to stroke her bare breast and stopped his assault only when a flight attendant was approaching. Not only did he demonstrate gross disregard for others' bodily privacy and cause lasting trauma for the victim, but he has never acknowledged his crime nor demonstrated any understanding that he may not use girls for his personal gratification."

In a statement to the court the victim wrote the assault, "has become a persistent, haunting presence in my life…. The experience has changed me. It has tainted my perceptions of others and made me fearful of strangers."

In the second case sentenced today, 25-year-old Desmond D. Bostick of Federal Way, Washington, pleaded guilty last April, admitting the sexual motivation for his assault on the 24-year-old stranger sitting next to him on a June 2023 Alaska Airlines flight from San Diego to Seattle.

Bostick was seated in the last row of the plane in the aisle seat and the victim, was seated in the middle seat. Bostick repeatedly touched the victim on the thigh and grabbed her buttocks when she stood to allow the passenger in the window seat to exit the row. Bostick touched her buttocks a second time when the victim stood for the window seat passenger to return to his seat. Bostick admits he touched the victim to arouse his sexual desire.

After the plane landed, the victim reported the conduct to the flight crew and law enforcement began its investigation. Bostick had left the airport, and his location was unknown. The federal grand jury returned an indictment in the case on September 27, 2023. Bostick was located and arrested by the FBI on February 9, 2024. He pleaded guilty April 11, 2024.

Writing to the court, prosecutors emphasized the importance of deterrence, "Bostick assaulted a young woman while she sat isolated on a plane in flight. He repeatedly groped her while she was stuck in the middle seat of the back of an airplane with nowhere to go… Sexual offenses on airplanes are a serious problem. General deterrence is important so that potential offenders consider the risk of consequences if they are caught. This court should order a sentence that communicates to both Bostick and other potential offenders that abusive sexual contact is a serious crime that will be met with meaningful consequences."

At the sentencing hearing Judge Whitehead told Bostick, "To characterize your conduct as a 'lapse of judgement' would be to divorce your conduct from its true ugliness." Bostick will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

Both cases were investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Port of Seattle Police. U.S. Customs and Border Protection assisted with U.S. v Kumar.

Assistant United States Attorneys Miriam Hinman and Sanaa Nagi prosecuted U.S. v. Kumar (24-00041JNW).

Assistant United States Attorneys Kristine Foerster and Sean Waite prosecuted U.S. v. Bostick (23-155JNW)

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Updated August 1, 2024