Aug. 2 (UPI) — Two men were sentenced to prison terms after convictions for abusive sexual contact of young women aboard two separate flights to Seattle.
The Justice Department announced the sentences Friday against Abhinav Kumar, an Indian citizen and Desmond Bostick, of Federal Way, Wash., while also noting the area is seeing an increase in this type of criminal behavior.
Kuman was given a 15-month prison sentence after being found guilty in May of abusive sexual contact with a 17-year-old high school student. Bostick was sentenced to nine months after pleading guilty in April of assault with intent to commit a felony for groping a 24-year-old woman.
Both incidents occurred on flights bound for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
“The Western District of Washington continues to see an increase in cases involving sexual assault aboard aircraft, and we have a zero-tolerance policy,” U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman said in a statement issued by the Justice Department.
“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.”
Kumar used a blanket in an attempt to conceal his hand as he repeatedly groped the breast of the 17-year-old girl asleep next to him on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Seattle in February. She initially rebuffed Kumar’s advances and requests to meet for coffee at a later date.
The Justice Department said the victim initially “froze” after the assault but then told her family, who were seated nearby, what had happened. The family then told the crew and Kumar was arrested after the plane landed.
Prosecutors had initially asked for a sentence of 21 months citing the woman’s age.
“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,” the Justice Department statement reads.
“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.”
Bostick ultimately pleaded guilty after he was indicted following his admission sexual motivation played a role in his assault of a 24-year-old stranger sitting next to him on an Alaska Airlines flight from San Diego to Seattle in June of 2023.
The 25-year-old repeatedly grabbed the woman as she stood in front of her seat to let another passenger get into the aisle of the plane. Both Bostick and his victim were seated in the last row of the plane at the time.
Bostick left the airport after the flight landed but was eventually located by the FBI and taken into custody.
“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,” prosecutors wrote in their submission at sentencing.
“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.”
U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead handled sentencing in both cases
“To characterize your conduct as a ‘lapse of judgement’ would be to divorce your conduct from its true ugliness,” Whitehead said during Bostick’s sentencing.