Passenger convicted of sexually assaulting teen on flight sentenced to prison

An Indiana man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenager on an airplane flying over Nebraska in 2017.

Ian Wagner, originally from New Haven, Indiana, was charged with abusive sexual contact of an incapacitated person, according to a Jan. 6 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska. In addition to prison time, Wagner was sentenced to six years of supervised release with special conditions and was ordered to pay $500 in restitution to the victim.

Wagner’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

The incident occurred on Oct. 6, 2017, when Wagner was a passenger on a flight from Indianapolis to Denver. He was seated next to an 18-year-old woman, the release said.

The woman fell asleep during the flight and awoke to find Wagner rubbing her inner thigh with his hand, prosecutors said. During the flight, she took a photo of Wagner so she could identify him later — the photo’s geolocation data showed that the plane was over Hastings, Nebraska, at the time.

The woman left her seat and hid in the plane’s bathroom but eventually went back to her seat, believing that the flight was full and she would be unable to move to another seat, the release said.

After she sat down, she saw that Wagner had placed a jacket over his lap and that his hand was moving under it, prosecutors said. Wagner made eye contact with her and removed the jacket, exposing himself to her, according to prosecutors. He continued to stare at her for five minutes while he performed a sexually explicit act, the release said.

The woman was disturbed by his behavior and lodged a complaint with the airline shortly after. In the following weeks, she filed another complaint with criminal authorities, the release said.

According to the indictment, the woman was unable to discern what was happening before it occurred and therefore could not say explicitly that she did not want to participate.

The case was investigated by the FBI prior to Wagner’s sentencing, the news release said.

This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Passenger convicted of sexually assaulting teen on flight sentenced to prison."