Pennsylvania man sentenced for abusive sexual contact of a minor on flight from San Diego to Philadelphia
A West Chester man was sentenced on Friday after being convicted of abusive sexual contact with a minor while she was asleep on a flight to Philadelphia, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
In an announcement Friday evening, United States Attorney Jacqueline Romero identified the man as 46-year-old Edward Decker of West Chester, Pennsylvania.
After pleading guilty in May, Decker was sentenced to six months imprisonment, one year of supervised release and $4,000 in restitution for abusive sexual contact on an aircraft, Romero said.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Decker touched a juvenile girl's thigh and breast while she was sleeping on an American Airlines flight from San Diego, California, to Philadelphia in July 2022. The girl woke up to Decker, who was sitting in her row, with his hands and face underneath her clothes on her body, as said in the release.
"There's no excuse for touching anyone in a sexual manner without their consent — let alone a sleeping underage stranger," Romero said in a news release.
Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia Wayne Jacobs thanked the agency's partners at Philadelphia International Airport for their help with the investigation.
"Every person has an expectation of and, indeed, the right to fly on a U.S. aircraft without being abusively sexually contacted," Jacobs said "Our office and the U.S. Attorney's Office will continue to ensure both that victims of such crimes are supported and that those who commit such crimes are held accountable."
