A Georgia doctor is accused of sexually assaulting a female plane passenger on board a Delta Airlines flight to Maine, The Daily Beast reported.
Dr. Jake Namjik Cho, a 44-year-old Atlanta nephrologist, told the FBI that his alleged actions were “not sexual” and blamed the whole thing on his poor eyesight, saying that he only planned to squeeze the woman’s upper thigh but ended up touching her crotch area after his hand slipped “because my glasses were off and it was dark.”
According to a criminal complaint, the woman said that during the flight, Cho“continuously leaned into her seat area while appearing to be asleep.”
The complaint goes on to state that Cho “moved his hand onto the seat in the space between him and [the woman], with his hand in contact with her thigh and buttocks,” and that Cho “also moved his feet into [the woman’s] foot space and touched her feet with his feet.” When the plane hit turbulence, Cho “appeared to have spasmed and reached over [the woman’s] leg and down into her crotch.”
Cho “then touched the outside of [the woman’s] genitals from the outside of her pants,” the complaint states, adding that Cho “appeared to be sleeping or pretending to sleep throughout.”
When questioned by the FBI two days after the incident, Cho said he was in town to ask his girlfriend to marry him and denied touching, or even speaking to the unidentified woman who accused him of assaulting her. In another interview with the FBI, Cho said the woman “had made up the story,” but “while maintaining that the actions were not sexual, Cho admitted that he touched [the woman] during the flight.”
Cho is charged with one count of abusive sexual contact aboard an aircraft.
Read the full report over at The Daily Beast.
