The 65-year-old has been found guilty of abusive sexual contact after he allegedly started to touch a fellow passenger’s breast and thigh and now faces jail time
A man has been convicted after groping a woman onboard a Southwest Airlines flight.
William R. McKelvy, 65, from Texas, was found guilty of abusive sexual contact after a brief jury trial and is now facing up to three years in federal prison.
The incident took place in April 2023 when McKelvy was traveling on a Southwest flight from Tulsa to Dallas. He assaulted the woman next to him on four occasions – including touching her breast and inner thigh – despite being told to stop by the victim. It comes after a plane passenger punched a flight attendant after she made a simple request.
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The victim testified about her ordeal at the trial, according to a news release from the Department of Justice, telling prosecutors that she initially thought that the man had inadvertently touched her and his actions were accidental.
When McKelvy tried again minutes later, she pushed him away forcefully and told him to keep his hands to himself, federal authorities said.
McKelvy touched the woman again a third and fourth time, at which point the victim yelled, “Get your (expletive) hand off me, or I will break your (expletive) hand,” according to the statement.
Prosecutors said that her reaction gained the attention of fellow passengers, who notified flight attendants of the situation. The flight attendants then moved McKelvy to the back of the plane and called ahead to have police meet the plane when it arrived at Love Field.
Upon meeting the police, McKelvy said that he had been vaping on the plane, and made a vile comment when speaking about his actions with the female passenger, saying he had “flirted with this chick”.
During the trial, McKelvy claimed to have no recollection of the incident because he consumed alcohol and marijuana gummies prior to boarding the plane.
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“Sexual assault aboard an aircraft is a federal crime investigated by the FBI,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “It is because of fellow passengers and the flight crew that the defendant was detained and charged for assaulting the victim multiple times.”
The jury deliberated for just 30 minutes before returning with a verdict, and McKelvy is now due to be sentenced on 8 September.
It comes after a British passenger was removed from an aircraft at New York’s JFK airport after reportedly engaging in lewd behaviour and causing the flight to be delayed by several hours.
According to fellow travellers, he had approached a complete stranger with the crude proposition, “Ever had a hand job on a plane?” and, following rejection, allegedly exposed himself and began openly pleasuring himself, even displaying explicit images of himself on his mobile and attempting to touch the passenger seated next to him.