Usually it’s women who are the victims of sexual assault on planes, but in this case it was a guy. The details of this story are quite disturbing…
In this post:
Denver-bound passenger assaulted by seatmate
An affidavit filed in federal court this week has the details of an incident that unfolded on a Sacramento to Denver flight on Monday, October 25, 2021. Specifically, Robert Glasper III allegedly repeatedly touched his seatmate, then proceeded to masturbate, and then asked his seatmate to jerk him off.
According to the affidavit:
- Glasper appeared to be “under the influence” while boarding the plane, and “looked lost” while staring out the window and at the surroundings
- After the plane door closed, the victim attempted to put on his seatbelt, but noticed that Glasper was sitting on it; when the victim said “I think you may be sitting on my buckle” and moved around a bit so they could both get situated, Glasper reached out with his hand and grasped the victim’s left buttocks, “giving a squeeze”
- Glasper continued to touch the victim’s leg, applying slight pressure with his finger while making a “cupping motion” with his hand
- The victim states that Glasper repeatedly tried to hold his hand, though the perpetrator could only put his hands on top, since the victim kept both of his hands firmly in his lap; the touching would last anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes at a time
- Glasper repeatedly asked to switch seats with the victim (who was in the middle seat), which is believed to be an attempt for him to get closer to the female passenger in the aisle seat
- After Glasper went to the bathroom, he returned and began masturbating and exposing himself, saying “look at this,” and allegedly asking the victim to “jerk him off”
- At this point the victim contacted the flight attendants (which he had been apprehensive about prior to this), and was moved to a seat at the front of the plane
- The plane landed at Denver International Airport just after 8:30PM, at which point Glasper was met by law enforcement; the airline in the incident isn’t named, though presumably it was either Southwest Airlines or United Airlines, based on the schedule and timing
Glasper now faces three federal offenses:
- Sexual contact without permission within special aircraft jurisdiction
- Lewd, indecent, obscene acts within special aircraft jurisdiction
- Simple assault within special aircraft jurisdiction
It’s sad it took so long for this to be reported
Unfortunately this isn’t surprising given that this is often the case with sexual assault victims, but it’s sad how long this took to be reported.
It sounds like this situation could have been dealt with before departure, based on Glasper seemingly being under some sort of an influence, and touching his seatmate’s butt before the plane even left the gate. Ultimately the victim didn’t decide to report this until his seatmate literally asked him to jerk him off, which is a sad reflection of how uncomfortable people are coming forward in situations like this.
To be clear, I can totally understand why that is. While the dynamic might be different if it’s a man assaulting a man rather than a man assaulting a woman, that opens up a whole different set of reasons that the traveler might have been uncomfortable reporting this.
Credit to the victim for at least trying to protect the female in the aisle by not letting this creep switch seats with him and be in the middle of two passengers.
Bottom line
A man on a Sacramento to Denver flight was sexually assaulted by his seatmate. At first the perpetrator touched his butt, rubbed his leg, and tried to hold his hand. Then eventually he started masturbating, and asked his seatmate to jerk him off. Hopefully the guy is held responsible for his actions and gets help.
It’s just sad (though not surprising) how long it took for this to be reported.
What do you make of this very uncomfortable incident?
I was on this flight. It was a Frontier flight from SMF-DEN. I first thought it was about masking. But after deplaning I saw police arresting the suspect and two women filling out forms and talking to the police. Later.on 2 other police officers came and escorted the victim somewhere. I later talked to another passenger on that flight and she told me it was about a guy masterbating on the plane.
You don't have to put the male in bracket. Men get sexually assaulted is just as bad a women getting assaulted.
I’m confused, I thought OMAAT was the blog that has the travel and credit card news, and high-calorie, low nutrition junk articles like this is for Matthew’s Live and Let’s Fly Blog
If the increase in physical and mental abuse isn’t important to you as a flyer, see the headline and move on. Pretty simple really.
I hope that the facts are real and that you have not accused someone who has not appeared in court. Innocent until proven guilty is the British model. Guilty until proven innocent is the Facebook/Twitterverse model.
Before you assassinate someone publicly - from which they will never be exonerated - perhaps you should wait for a conviction?
But it does enhance the click-verse
I don't know how it is in Britain but in the USA it is a CRIME to make false accusations to the po po (Google it, limey). Yes, innocent until railroaded (if your skin is not white) but I believe this victim. I'm sure the female in the aisle seat was a "witness"
to Gasper whipping out his Johnson (Google it).
Last time I checked, a blog is not a court of law. Also, these facts are directly from the affidavit filed against the defendant, which is publicly available. Gotta assume you’re trolling here though.
If we had to wait until people appeared in court, were tried, and convicted for something to be reported, all the news outlets would be out of business extremely fast.
What “assassination” occurred? The blog and several major media outlets accurately reported on a publicly available criminal affidavit, and the blog editor gave his opinion about the pattern of sexual assaults that has occurred on commercial flights, which he has a right to do. Innocent until proven guilty is a criminal justice concept in both the US and the UK. It is neither a bar to the free press from accurately reporting the news, nor...
What “assassination” occurred? The blog and several major media outlets accurately reported on a publicly available criminal affidavit, and the blog editor gave his opinion about the pattern of sexual assaults that has occurred on commercial flights, which he has a right to do. Innocent until proven guilty is a criminal justice concept in both the US and the UK. It is neither a bar to the free press from accurately reporting the news, nor from a private citizen stating their opinion on a matter, including unresolved matters. Nowhere did the blog state that any of the allegations had been proven in court, and the blog editor is free to state that assuming they are true, it is a terrible thing to occur.
Had to make sure it wasn't the jazz Pianist Robert Glasper. Thankfully looks like it isn't
To the folks blaming the victim here, I am supposed to say, I hope you never have to experience this, but that’ll ensure you all remain clueless. So, I hope you all actually encounter such behavior first hand. After that, we’ll talk about your reaction, how quickly you were able to call a flight attendant, punch your abuser etc.
I would have gladly complied with his request. It would have been the last time he used his wanker this century.
Seriously Ben? You've just gone to the gutter by writing this. If I wanted to read this kind of crap I'd just go to Live and Let's Fly
Do you also visit other people's home and tell them how much you hate their decor and why they wasted your time by inviting you in? But I guess you're the center of the universe.
You apparently wanted to read it enough to not only click on the article (the headline wasn't misleading at all) and then comment.
Ben didn’t go into the gutter with this, he reported on something that happened on a plane. It’s his blog, he can post what he wants. If you don’t want to read it why did you? Anyway, it sounds like fun to me. Although a plane is perhaps not the right place to suggest a mutual jerk.
Factual reporting of a criminal affidavit is going to “the gutter?” Sorry, PollyAnna, you think life is all rainbows and roses, but it is not. These sort of incidents on commercial flights happen far too frequently. Also, no one is forcing you to read anything. The headline made it quite clear what the post was about, and you were welcome to skip it if the subject matter upset you. Take responsibility for your own choice to read the post and get offended.
Since you are gay Ben and are LGBT, have you had any issues on board of people invading your space ever or doing something to make you uncomfortable?
What does being gay have any relevance to being physically assaulted? Vast majority of sexual assault is by hetero men.
Why does Ben being gay have anything to do with this story and why did that question pop into your mind?
Like you said, SMF-DEN tips off it was likely UA or WN. But all we know for sure is that it wasn't AA. Gary would have had that scoop before the plane touched down.
Thank god you changed the freaking headline.
If they landed in my california, they would have sprung him from jail that day. Good thing they landed in a tough on crime state.
So sad to see that this behavior is normal in this day and age. Our politicians like Chesa and London Breed encourage this because of the criminals in their own family!
You're an idiot.
Is it exhausting to live your life constantly trying to fit every single isolated incident into some grand political conspiracy? Seems like a miserable way to get through the day lol.
What an asinine thing to say.
Wow you really didn't get enough attention from your mom when you were little did you.
Corrado you have issues get help!
Lucky, weren’t you once propositioned in a similar way by a flight attendant?
What happened to the beat the crap out of Glasper and put him to sleep as soon as he touched the victim’s hands? Let the snowflakes begin!!!!! This victim is an example of the new generation that is all over this country. Weak, indoctrinated people that have no action and prefer to be the victim.
What if no one saw the first part and just saw you breaking the person's jaw?
All of a sudden you've now got a civil lawsuit and criminal charges for assualt pointed at you rather than the other way around?
It tends to be best to let others notice and then force him to stop rather than taking preemptive action
Oh really? Let the guy assault you so you have the proof? What happened to self defense? Is that cancelled as well?
Echoing what Rain said, the TSA recently implemented a zero-tolerance policy for violence, so not only would've he been removed from the flight, he might've been banned from future flights as well. It's hard to prove that someone was harassing you and that you didn't just fight for no reason.
What a great world we live today.
Then improve it or go live somewhere else dirty harry.....
If you did so other passengers would see that without having witnessed the initial incident. The best thing to do in an enclosed environment is for the victim to have raised his voice “ what are you doing ? Get your hands off me “!
But he kept quiet and decided to be a victim.
Santastico sounds unhinged. Fantasizing about escalating this situation with violence in the service of some culture war virtue signaling is nutty and immature.
Santastico is either a troll trying to get a rise from people or just a very very sad and sensitive little man child.
Let the guy finger you but don’t say a word to not hurt his feelings. Good for you.
You must be new here. He has always been like this.
Sounds? He is unhinged. A lonely troll.
I too enjoy yelling at clouds and typing tough on anonymous online forums.
He didn't "decide to be a victim" nor did he "prefer to be a victim". He was made a victim by this goofball who decided to put himself in an unacceptable position of power, and he spoke up about the jerk's actions in a way and at a time that he felt were most appropriate, given the environment.
Be happy. The world is full of keyboard warriors like you. The problem is, as soon as you face such situations in real life, your misconceptions about masculinity vaporizes. So enjoy this while it lasts, and thank god for protecting you so far.
Santastico is NOT fantastico.....
As long as he was wearing a mask. That's really what's most important!
Weird post. You doing ok, Mak?
Terrible story all around and really sad that this post will get 5 times the views and the clicks than your epic Paris hotel reviews but i guess that is how the internet works these days.
Without taking anything from the Paris hotel reviews (epic indeed), I think there are more people concerned about the increase in air travel abuse than there are readers spending 1200 euros a night in Paris.