Posted on 10/12/2007 5:46:32 AM PDT by Sopater
An 11-year-old Alabama girl flying alone from San Diego to Atlanta says a man slipped into the empty seat beside her and sexually molested her on a crowded Delta jet.
The disturbing charges were made public in a lawsuit filed last week in Fulton County State Court could make parents think twice before placing any unescorted child on a bus, plane or train. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Delta, with more than 1,000 flights a day leaving Atlanta alone, estimates it carries thousands of unescorted young fliers a year.
Savannah lawyer Mark Tate, who is representing the family, said the girl, whose name was withheld in the lawsuit, was traumatized by the incident.
Although the girl reported the incident to her mother when she got off the plane, Tate said no criminal charges have been filed and no suspect identified. The mother took the report to Huntsville police, Atlanta police and eventually the FBI.
"Delta has a very high burden to meet in protecting passengers," said Tate. "We feel Delta didn't meet that. This little girl is not doing well. It's caused severe problems."
Airline officials refused to directly address the charges in the lawsuit.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Results as of 7:46AM Central Time:
Yes 25.75% 1259 No 74.25% 3630
Cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching.
How does freep want me to vote?
Was the person on the adjacent seat asleep during this alleged incident. I need to have more info on this before I leave my highly regarded opinion
Which is why they don’t go after the perv.
She just sat there and let it happen? I suppose that’s possible but something doesn’t sound right.
I am finding dissonance in the story already. Crowded? Empty Seat? Flight Attendants walking through the isles. People in fron and in back of her. She says nothing, does nothing, can't identify the passenger but they are sueing the airline?
I would love to give her the but if it looks like a duck and is quacking well . . .
Not buying this story at all.
Any parent who would allow a female child to fly alone and unattended should be prosecuted for child abuse.
What a splendiferous COS! This is extortion by lawsuit. What PROOF, other than an 11YO’s word and her $$mother$$ do they have?
I’d never send my pre-teen on a flight alone. Forgetting this article, there are too many possibilities of them not getting to their destination and ending up in a strange city with no one but a stranger to look out for them.
[Any parent who would allow a female child to fly alone and unattended should be prosecuted for child abuse.]
??
“Cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching.”
Oh yeah.
“Northwest Airlines paid more than $500,000 to a girl who claimed she was repeatedly sexually molested by a man seated next to her on a flight from Kansas City, Mo., to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 2001.”
Actually, it’s not as uncommon as one would think, and it happens to adult women as well. Keep in mind, this was a “redeye” flight, so the flight attendants are usually in the galleys and the lights are dimmed. I’m not jumping on either bandwagon, but things like this do happen, and not just to kids.
“This is extortion by lawsuit. What PROOF, other than an 11YO’s word and her $$mother$$ do they have?”
- Why am I reminded of the old, “ I found a dead mouse in my coke” lawsuit?
I would assume she was turned over to the flight crew, who would have kept an eye on her and ensured she was returned to an adult on the other side.
Generally you wouldn’t expect any trouble DURING the flight, since you are in a crowded room and the attendents are there to keep the peace. But if someone doesn’t say anything in the middle of an airplane, what’s to keep her from being attacked at school, at a movie theatre, or a playground?
At 11 years old, the parents are not stuck to her side any more.
I’m not passing judgment on this particular case, I’m saying that there’s no reason why an 11-year-old can’t fly unescorted. You just need an adult on either side, and to use the airline’s child transport program.
What a world.
I never used Delta because of other issues, but if this turns out to be true, why wasn’t a flight attendant with the child?
On other airlines with unescorted minors, they are placed in a segregated row; no adults allowed.
Those are the airlines I used to use.
When I was 14 years old, flying alone(can’t remember whether it was AA or Delta)and a man tried to get me to get off the plane with him in New Orleans. We were headed for Atlanta.
That was a long, long time ago. As you can see I did not go. My parents were absolutely livid with anger. I am not sure what they told the airlines; but it never happened again.
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