A federal judge sentenced a man from California to five years in prison after he was convicted of assaulting a 13-year-old girl on a Delta Air Lines flight.
During a June 23, 2022 redeye flight from Los Angeles to Orlando, Florida, Brian Patrick Durning, 52, was seated next to a 13-year-old girl who was separated from the rest of her family two rows away from her, according to evidence and testimony presented at trial.
After flight attendants dimmed the cabin lights, Dunning assaulted the child, according to the Department of Justice. A passenger nearby awoke and saw one of Durning’s hands between the child’s legs and decided to intervene.
According to a sentencing memorandum, Durning began acting “weird” when the lights dimmed on the plane and then began “rubbing his leg up against [the 13-year-old girl], and he kept touching [her] hair.” He then proceeded to touch the girl’s hair and neck with his hands.
Delta airplanes are seen at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York City, U.S., December 26, 2021. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo)
When the child attempted to stop Durning from touching her, prosecutors say that his “hand then ran down the child’s chest and touched her breast.”
Durning also called the girl “honey boo,” telling her that he would take her to Texas.
“You are never going to see your family again,” Durning said, according to federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors also allege Durning performed actions too graphic for publication.
The 13-year-old girl suffered a “panic attack” after the incident, was crying and couldn’t speak. She also “suffered physical pain and noticed blood in her underwear,” prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, the victim had trouble sleeping and experienced nightmares after the assault, which continued through the trial.
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Delta planes on the tarmac at Terminal C of LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in the Queens borough of New York, US, on Friday, June 2, 2023. Delta Air Lines Inc. is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 13. (Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Her mother testified in court, saying her daughter “did not want to hang out with her friends…didn’t want to leave the house…didn’t want to go anywhere…wouldn’t go to the beach…wouldn’t wear a bathing suit…didn’t want to go back to school.”
The woman in the seat next to the child observed what was going on and switched seats with the 13-year-old girl, she testified, adding that Durning attempted to “grope [her] breasts” as well, but was stopped.
Durning’s attorney claimed in court filings that alcohol played a role in his client’s behavior on the flight.
Durning was convicted on June 22 of assaulting a minor on an aircraft.
United States District Judge Wendy W. Berger sentenced Durning to five years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to a Wednesday press release from the DOJ.
The case was initially investigated by the FBI, Federal Air Marshals, and the Orlando Police Department.
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A passenger waits near a Delta Air lines terminal in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on April 13, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Delta Air Lines reported a $353 million loss for its first fiscal quarter. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Federal prosecutors brought the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide DOJ initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
In response to a request for comment, a Delta Air Lines spokesperson told Fox News Digital “We have no tolerance for unlawful conduct.”
Source: www.foxnews.com