Arizona Man Arrested for Groping a Girl Sitting Next to Him on Flight

An Arizona man was indicted in Alaska for alleged sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl during a flight.

Kepueli Talaiasi, 58, was accused of groping a teen girl who was sitting next to him during a flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Anchorage, Alaska on Apr. 26.

The minor, who was traveling with her father, reportedly pushed Talaiasi's hand away several times. She even tried to move away from the suspect in her seat, according to a People report.

Authorities said that she then wrote a note to her father on her phone about the Arizona man touching her. The minor's father then called the flight attendants, and they intervened. The teen girl was then separated from the suspect.

Alaska Airport Police detained Kepueli Talaiasi when the plane landed, and he was eventually arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

During the interview with the FBI, Talaiasi said that he "acknowledged having bad thoughts upon seeing the minor next to him, and described the devil tempting him," Fox 10 Phoenix reported.

The Arizona man then admitted giving in to the temptation. Kepueli Talaiasi could face a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison, followed by five years to a lifetime supervised release if convicted for the federal charge of abusive sexual contact with a minor.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the U.S. Attorney Office for Alaska said the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

The office had asked the federal court to order the continued detention of the suspect, citing reasons that he posed a threat to potential seatmates if he boarded a plane to return to Arizona pending trial, according to an Associated Press report.

Child Sexual Abuse in The U.S.

According to the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse, over 42 million survivors of sexual abuse were recorded across the country.

It also said that one in three girls is sexually abused before the age of 18, while one in five boys is sexually abused before the same age.

According to the Child Sex Abuse Prevention and Protection Center, around 30 percent of sexual abuse is never reported.

The U.S. Department of Justice noted that 90 percent of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator somehow.

A study in 1986 found that 63 percent of women who had suffered sexual abuse by a member of the family also reported a rape or attempted rape after the age of 14, Victims of Crime noted.

Children who had experienced rape or attempted rape in developing years were 13.7 times more likely to experience the same situation in college.

Children who do not live with both parents or lived in homes with parental discord also have a higher risk of being sexually abused.

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