A 70-year-old man from Andrews, North Carolina, was handed a half-year prison sentence on Wednesday, followed by a year of supervised release for an assault that occurred on a flight from Atlanta to Seattle, as the U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman's office has announced; Jack Allen Roberson was arrested back in July 2023 upon his arrival at Sea-Tac Airport and pleaded guilty to simple assault this past March.
The incident, which took place on a cramped aircraft where escape routes prove nonexistent, saw Roberson seated beside a 15-year-old teen, under the guise of sleep, he let his hand wander under the victim’s skirt as she sat next to her guardian, a ghastly overstep that Judge Lauren King deemed particularly egregious, "as passengers are captive when seated next to someone on a plane, and children are especially vulnerable in these circumstances," this according the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The teenager bravely reported Roberson's actions to her guardian, the guardian then informed a flight attendant and Roberson was swiftly reassigned to another seat; upon landing, law enforcement was ready to greet and detain Roberson, ensuring his prompt delivery to the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.
In the prosecution's pursuit of justice, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanaa Nagi stated, "Airline assaults are a plague on our modern, highly mobile society," and highlighting Seattle's significant increase in reports of airline assault, partly attributed to its pivotal role within the international air travel network,The brave victim, though left "shocked and afraid," after Roberson's assault, had the courage to stand up for herself, an act that Nagi says sends a clear message that such behavior is unacceptable and will be met with consequences, and this according to records filed in the case.
