A man who groped two women on a JetBlue flight, including one who was holding an infant, has been spared jail time and sentenced to one year of probation for his poor behavior onboard.
Twice As Nice: Man Who Groped Two Woman On JetBlue Flight Spared Jail Time
The incident occurred on a May 31, 2022 JetBlue redeye flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Boston (BOS).
- 43-year-old Jairaj Singh Dhillon was seated in row 22 in a window seat
- The first incident occurred just 30 minutes into the flight, when Dhillon reached over and “caressed” the woman seated in the middle seat next to him “on her thigh and in her groin area”
- This woman was holding a lap infant…
- She cried out, “This man just groped me!” and swatted his hand away, then jumped out to the aisle
- This caused an unrelated woman seated on the aisle to also jump out into the aisle
- Dhillon then grabbed the groin and butt of the second woman while she was standing in the aisle
- Dhillon was moved to a different part of the aircraft and arrested upon arrival in Boston
In his defense, Dhillon claimed that he would not have assaulted the first victim “because he wasn’t physically attracted to her.” He later claimed that he had taken an Ambien while boarding, which messed up his ability to think clearly.
He faced up to three years in prison, but worked out a plea deal with prosecutors and will not face jail time. As part of his probation deal, he will have to spend the first six months under home confinement.
CONCLUSION
A man who groped two women on a JetBlue redeye flight will not serve time in jail, though as part of his probation will be under house arrest and wear an ankle monitoring bracelet.
Is this justice? It seems like such a light sentence, even if the Ambien impaired his judgment. His legal trouble may not be over, though.
I hope that the two woman file hefty civil suits against him for his groping.
This is a pretty sick thing to do, but 6 months of home confinement even seems a little harsh. This seems more like a civil matter.
But seriously, what makes someone think this is a good Idea? And why do they always try to throw it off on “ambien”?
Honestly, it seems like an easier way to control this is to have it stated up front that any conviction for sexual inappropriateness results in a lifetime ban on airline travel. Seems like more effective of a deterent than just a slap on the wrist from the “legal system”
I’m am also confused how he “groped” someone in the aisle if he was in a window seat? Was he moved prior to this (2nd) incident to an aisle seat? Then moved again a 3rd time?
He probably slid over to position himself to defend himself in front of flight attendant?
It isn’t clear, but in this case he admitted to both gropings so it isn’t a man being framed.
I wasn’t implying that. I’m just saying something still doesn’t add up to the story.
Amateur…
Of course, why am I not surprised that the perpetrator is South Asian.
What does that mean?
The type of guy to type “show bobs and vegana” on dating apps
Unfortunately South Asian countries have some of the highest rates of violence against women, including rape and murder of pre-pubescent girls. From an aviation-specific perspective, we recently had two incidents on Air India and American Airlines, both on flights to DEL, involving a male passenger urinating on a female passenger. Similarly, the alleged rape by the butler at the Ritz-Carlton in Maldives is another example.
“I wasn’t attracted to her” is a pretty lousy defense. You’re essentially saying that you only sexually assault people you find attractive, as if that is somehow better.
The real penalty in such a case would be time on the Sex Offender Registry.
Eh, you would be surpised at the number of people on that list. I was shocked to learn there were two in my neighborhood and had been there for 10 years before moving in. Most don’t check that before buying a house/renting an apartment. I know we didn’t.
It is a topic I’m familiar with (no, I’m not a RSO). Some people who serve prison time for their offenses say that the real punishment starts when you get out of prison and get put on the registry.
I wondered in this case if the sentence included registering, which would have made the sentence much harsher than it would appear based on the monitoring/probation time, but as best I can tell he will not be required to register.
He definitely got a light sentence.
Who groping strangers was a side effect of Ambien?
Nope
“groping” means touched. As a first offense and a plea bargain, home confinement for 6 months seems reasonable to me. He now has a record and that also carries an impact on his professional life moving forward.
The USA has a strange, I’d even say bipolar, system of justice where some crimes carry excessively harsh penalties but common sense ones are ignored such as rioting/looting/arson between 2016 and 2020, mass shoplifting that puts stores out of business in major metropolitan areas and vagrancy/disturbing-the-peace on subways.
Agreed, PolishKnight!
Such double standards during the pandemic with the protests (some of which turned into rioting and looting).