Another Traveler Arrested For In-Flight Perving

AUGUST 12--A man flying to San Francisco allegedly touched the breast and thigh of a 14-year-old girl seated next to him, and whispered “I love you” in the child’s ear before adding, “Don’t tell your mom,” according to the FBI.

The creepy incident occurred Thursday afternoon on a US Airways flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, according to a federal criminal complaint accusing Bed Prakash of assaulting the juvenile victim, who was traveling alone.

The teenager told FBI Agent Bianca Betz that Prakash was seated next to her in row 12. Halfway through the trip, the girl recalled, Prakash briefly placed his hand on her outer thigh. He then “lightly touched the breast of the juvenile female on two occasions,” Betz charged.

Prakash subsequently returned his hand to the girl’s leg and “began moving his hand along her thigh in an upward motion,” the complaint charges. Fearing “what might happen next,” the teen pushed Prakash’s hand away.

At this point, Prakash clasped the girl’s fingers and “lifted their interlocked hands up, kissed the juvenile female’s hand, and whispered 'I love you' in her ear,” stated Betz.

“Shortly thereafter,” Betz said, Prakash leaned over to the girl and “whispered a statement which included the word ‘sucking,’ then added, ‘Don’t tell your mom.’” After being notified of Prakash’s actions, crew members moved the girl to another seat for the remainder of the flight.

Following a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Prakash was released on a $5000 unsecured bond and ordered to surrender his passport. He is scheduled for an August 25 arraignment, at which a Hindi interpreter will be provided for him.

If convicted of the assault count, Prakash faces a maximum of one year in prison, five years probation, and a $100,000 fine. (2 pages)