13-Year-Old Girl Allegedly Groped by Man on US Flight

An unaccompanied 13-year-old girl was left traumatised after a 26-year-old man allegedly groped her repeatedly on a US flight.

The young solo traveller boarded the American Airlines flight at Dallas-Fort Worth airport after visiting her father in Texas, and was on her way back home to Portland, Oregon.

Her parents even paid extra for American Airlines’ “unaccompanied minor service”, which includes chaperoning children on and off the aircraft.

In a statement, the FBI said that the man, identified as Chad Cameron Camp, insisted on taking the middle seat next to the teenager despite the number of empty spaces on the flight.

In a criminal complaint obtained by The Washington Post, American Airlines flight staff said they offered to move Mr Camp but he refused. When a flight attendant went back to check on the girl, 30 minutes later, she found Mr Camp with his hand on the girl’s crotch.

The girl described the terrible incident as “30 minutes of hell“.

In the complaint, Mr Camp tried to make small talk with the victim and started to touch her arm and shoulder while he apparently read a magazine. The victim attempted to move away from Mr Camp’s physical contact, and each time she withdrew, he would laugh. Mr Camp also allegedly placed his hand repeatedly on the victim’s knee and upper thigh, and when she asked him what he was doing, Mr Camp laughed and did it again.

After 30 minutes, a flight attendant serving drinks saw that the victim had a ‘tear running down her cheek’ and saw Mr Camp’s hand in the girl’s crotch. The flight attendant immediately took the victim away from Mr Camp who was told to move to another seat and then informed authorities at Portland airport.

A lawyer for the child’s family, Brent Goodfellow, said Mr Camp touched the girl 15 times.

Mr Goodfellow also accused the airline for failing to protect the girl and for “extorting” families through their unaccompanied minor service charge.

American Airlines recently began requiring parents to pay $150 ($AU200) extra each way for unaccompanied minors ages 12 to 14 to fly. However, the American Airlines’ website stated that the fee ensured “your child is boarded onto the aircraft, introduced to the flight attendant, chaperoned during connections and released to the appropriate person at their destination.”

Mr Goodfellow added that the girl’s family planned to file a civil suit against the airline. He said Mr Camp should never have been allowed to remain seated next to the girl when there were plenty of other seats available. He also questioned why it took a while for the flight crew to realise that the girl was allegedly being sexually abused.

Mr Goodfellow also said that since the incident, the girl was struggling to cope after the terrifying experience. He told KOIN: “She is already saying she doesn’t want to be on an aeroplane ever again…I sat with the family for about three hours “¦ she didn’t want to be touched by her mum. Every time she went to give her kind of a loving touch she would jump.”

Fox News reported that in a statement, American Airlines said they were co-operating with authorities. “We take these matters very seriously and have co-operated fully and immediately with law enforcement officials in their investigation of the suspect,” airline spokesman Ross Feinstein said.

Mr Camp, from Gresham, Oregon, was detained by Portland authorities and then arrested by FBI agents. He has been charged with abusive sexual contact and has entered a plea of not guilty. He will remain in custody until his arraignment on July 15.

Sources: 9news.com.au and News.com.au