Leah Melley says she was traveling for work on a United Airlines flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago on September 22 when the man in the seat next to her began touching her about 30 minutes into the flight. She says he rubbed her arm, touched her leg and inner thigh, and eventually exposed himself and touched himself before she managed to get away and report it to a flight attendant. Now, nearly five weeks later, she says she still has not heard whether anyone will be held accountable.
Melley had a window seat next to the man, according to WPXI, and she initially tried to ignore him, putting in her AirPods and turning toward the window to be left alone. She says the man repeatedly raised the armrest between them after she lowered it and at one point used a blanket to block the view of what he was doing. “I realized at this point, he had exposed himself and was touching himself,” Melley said, describing the moment she understood what was happening beside her.
She says she told the man she needed to get up, and he refused to move. Rather than escalate the confrontation in her seat, Melley says she woke another passenger nearby and made her way to the back of the plane, where she told a flight attendant what had happened. United Airlines has said Melley was moved to another seat once she reported the incident to the flight crew, and that law enforcement met the aircraft when it landed in Chicago.
United Says It Banned the Passenger, but Melley Wants More
United has said it apologized to Melley for her experience and banned the other passenger pending the airline's own investigation, according to the station's report. But an internal ban is not the same as a criminal charge, and that gap is what has left Melley frustrated. “We are at week five. Did you arrest him, did you charge him, are you going to charge him? Give me something,” she said.
The emotional weight of the incident has stayed with her, she said, framing it in personal terms. “I have daughters. I have family. What if it had been one of them?” Melley asked, per the same account. She says she wants charges filed against the man, but five weeks on, she says she still does not know whether that will happen.
FBI Won't Confirm an Investigation Is Underway
The FBI's Chicago office has not said whether an investigation into the incident is underway. A spokesperson pointed to Department of Justice policy that prevents the bureau from commenting on the nature of investigations that may or may not be occurring, leaving Melley without a clear answer nearly five weeks after she reported what happened.
Melley's account echoes a case out of California, where a San Diego woman said a passenger masturbated next to her on a United red-eye flight from San Diego to Newark, according to NBC San Diego. In that case, the flight crew agreed to move her after she asked for help, but she said the passenger left the plane without being stopped by police because law enforcement was never contacted. United told NBC San Diego it spoke with that customer, apologized for her experience, and banned the other person involved pending its investigation — the same language the airline used in Melley's case.
NBC San Diego also reported that a New York woman previously told NBC News she felt trapped on a United flight from Rochester to Newark seated next to a man she said had masturbated earlier in the flight. An FBI official told the outlet that most sexual assaults on airplanes happen on longer, nighttime flights when the cabin is dark, although they can happen on any flight at any time of day. The Transportation Security Administration has said it received 157 reports of sexual misconduct or sexual assault on flights this year.
What Federal Law Says About Assaults Aboard Aircraft
Conduct aboard an aircraft that would amount to indecent exposure on the ground can be prosecuted under federal law. The U.S. Department of Justice notes that committing an act within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States that would constitute indecent exposure under the cited District of Columbia law is made criminal under 49 U.S.C. § 46506(2). Federal prosecutors and the FBI have previously detailed similar cases, including one in which a defendant was charged with Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Special Aircraft Jurisdiction and Abusive Sexual Contact in Special Aircraft Jurisdiction.
For now, Melley is left waiting. United has confirmed the steps it took on the day of the flight — moving her seat, notifying law enforcement in Chicago, and banning the other passenger — but whether those steps will lead anywhere further is a question only federal investigators can answer, and so far, they haven't.
