Kansas man arrested for abusive sexual contact on a Delta flight from Kona, Hawaii to Seattle

Seattle - A 31-year-old Kansas man was arrested upon arrival at SEA airport this morning on a flight from Kona, Hawaii, after allegedly sexually assaulting the woman in the seat next to him, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Dominic Cortez Nichols was detained until a release plan can be put in place with a chaperone to escort him home to Kansas.

According to the criminal complaint, as the Delta Airlines flight boarded in Kona, the 27-year-old victim found Nichols sitting in her assigned window seat. Rather than get up and allow the victim to move into the seat, Nichols moved into the middle seat and forced the victim to climb over him to claim her seat.

With less than two hours to go in the overnight flight, the victim was attempting to sleep with her hands placed between her thighs when Nichols reached his hand between her hands and reached down to touch her inner thigh and groin area. The victim immediately hit the flight attendant call button and was moved to a different seat.

Abusive sexual contact aboard an aircraft is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The charge contained in the criminal complaint is only an allegation. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

In the last few years, the Western District of Washington U.S. Attorney's Office has charged 13 defendants with abusive sexual contact on aircraft.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Port of Seattle Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda McDowell.