TEACH WOMEN NOT TO GROPE! Woman admits groping female passenger on flight.
Heidi McKinney, 27, of suburban Portland, was arrested May 8, 2016, after the Alaska Airlines flight landed at Portland International Airport. The victim told authorities she had been touched on the breast and genitals without consent by another female passenger.
“Miss McKinney did so with the intent to humiliate and harass the victim,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Sinha said at U.S. District Court in Portland. “(She) both made contact with victim’s body, including her inner thigh, and made a series of profane and lewd statements to the victim.”
A federal grand jury originally indicted McKinney on a charge of abusive sexual contact. She ultimately pleaded guilty to assault with the intent to commit a felony.
The maximum penalty is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. However, Sinha and defense attorney Lisa Ludwig plan to jointly recommend a sentence of three years on probation.
10 years seems awfully stiff for groping. But I wonder what they’d recommend if she were a man? And if she’d groped a man, would she have been prosecuted at all?