Pilot Sentenced In Groping Case Of 14-Year-Old Girl

A former airline pilot was sentenced in the groping case of a 14-year-old girl. The former pilot, Michael James Pascal, was sentenced to more than two years in prison for groping the teen in the seat next to him on an off-duty flight.

The incident happened in October 2013 on a Delta Airlines flight. The Associated Press reports that the teen woke up from a nap and felt Pascal’s hand under her, gripping her buttocks. According to court documents, the teen elbowed him and yelled, “What the hell are you doing?”

The teen told flight attendants what happened and was re-seated. Earlier, she told investigators she pushed the armrest down between them, but it was upright when she awoke. She recounted that Pascal pulled his hand out from under her and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was asleep, I have to use the bathroom.”

After the incident and the flight attendant re-seated her, the girl told the court she saw Pascal looking at her in an “annoyed” manner.

During testimony, the former airline pilot told investigators he fell asleep with his hands in his lap and couldn’t remember where his hand was when he woke up. He added that he lifted the armrest between himself and the teen because the man on his other side was taking up a lot of room.

CBS News notes that the former airline pilot was found guilty in the groping case in March on two counts of abusive sexual conduct. During the trial, Pascal’s attorney, Rhome Zabriskie, maintained that any contact between the two was accidental and happened while Pascal was asleep.

When the former pilot was charged, Zabriskie said, “When he woke up, he realized he had kind of flopped over on the passenger next to him.”

Pascal lost his job with a Delta Airlines contractor regional carrier when he was charged in 2013. Zabriskie commented Wednesday, “He has suffered an awful lot and it will continue.”

Delta’s regional airline carrier ExpressJet Airlines had no comment on the case, and a spokeswoman told the AP Wednesday that the company doesn’t comment on previous employees. At the time of the investigation, Delta stated that it cooperated with investigators but had no other comment.

Pascal was ordered to turn himself in on September 30, and he will serve his sentence in Colorado, where he has family. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball added that the former airline pilot sentenced in the groping case will serve five years probation afterward and be placed on the sex offender registry.

[Image: New York Post]