(PatriotWise.com) — The California man who groped two women aboard a flight from Los Angeles to Boston last year was sentenced last week to one-year probation and home confinement after pleading guilty in March, the UK Daily Mail reported.
Jairaj Singh Dhillon of Modesto, California admitted to engaging in unwanted sexual contact while on an overnight flight in late May last year.
Dhillon, 43, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault in federal court in March.
While he faced up to six months behind bars for his midflight fondling, the magistrate judge in the case sentenced Dhillon to six months of home confinement as part of a one-year probation, according to Boston.com.
According to prosecutors, about 30 minutes into the flight, Dhillon began touching the woman seated beside him as she was tending to her infant, fondling her on the thigh and groin. The woman then shouted at the flight attendants, saying that he groped her, according to the complaint.
When the woman’s husband left his seat to see what was going on, a second woman seated across the aisle from Dhillon stood up to let him out. As the second woman was standing in the aisle, Dhillon reached out and grabbed her buttocks and groin.
After the flight crew intervened, Dhillon was moved to another section of the plane for the duration of the flight.
Upon landing at Logan International Airport in Boston, Dhillon was taken into custody.
Dhillon initially denied the claims, saying he would not have groped the woman with the infant because he wasn’t attracted to her.
Both women said Dhillon didn’t appear to be “all there” during the flight.
Federal officials have urged any airline passenger who is a victim of a crime to contact a flight crew member immediately and report the crime to the FBI’s Tips website.
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