Missouri man gets 21 months in federal prison for groping ER nurse on flight to Atlanta

A Missouri convicted of groping an ER nurse throughout a flight from St. Louis to Atlanta final yr was sentenced Wednesday to 21 months in federal jail. 

Scott Russell Granden, 36, of St. Louis, pleaded responsible on Sept. 24, 2021 to abusive sexual contact aboard an plane, in accordance with prosecutors with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace of the Northern District of Georgia. 

Following his jail sentence, Granden shall be topic to at least one yr of supervised launch and should register as a intercourse offender, prosecutors mentioned. 

In line with court docket paperwork, Granden boarded a flight from St. Louis to Atlanta on March 25, 2021 and sat subsequent to a girl – recognized in court docket paperwork solely as “R.A.Okay.,” an emergency room nurse.

FILE: A Delta Airways pilot wears a face masks as he walks via a terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Worldwide Airport in Atlanta, on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. 
(AP Photograph/Charlie Riedel, File)

Prosecutors mentioned R.A.Okay. was “exhausted” from a busy day and tried to relaxation on the flight. A number of instances all through the flight, R.A.Okay. was woken up by Granden touching her thigh, transferring his hand in direction of her groin space, prosecutors mentioned. He additionally, at one level, tried to kiss her, and slapped her buttocks when she stood as much as let him cross her to go the restroom, in accordance with court docket paperwork. 

NORTH CAROLINA AIRPORT KITCHEN FIRE PROMPTS EVACUATION

A flight attendant responded to her complaints, and she or he was moved to a special seat. The airline notified the Atlanta Police Division concerning the incident upon arriving on the airport. Officers took statements from R.A.Okay. and one other passenger. Prosecutors mentioned Granden hurled racist and homophobic slurs throughout this time. 

Police bodycam footage exhibiting the arrest of Granden. 
(Atlanta Police Division)

“Passengers have the fitting to fly in peace and to count on that their private dignity shall be revered,” U.S. Lawyer Kurt R. Erskine mentioned in a press release. “When this defendant began groping and sexually harassing the feminine passenger within the subsequent seat, he humiliated and degraded her. We is not going to tolerate this sort of conduct on an airplane, and this sentence exhibits the implications for such abusive sexual conduct.” 

The Atlanta Police Division and the FBI investigated the case.