A San Diego man who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl while the pair were passengers on a cross-country flight was sentenced Monday to two years in prison.
Ryan Coffey admitted in a plea agreement to giving the teen rum and inappropriately touching the girl, who he did not know, on a Jan. 7, 2023, American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to San Diego.
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Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that another passenger on the plane overheard the girl tell Coffey — who was 31 years old at the time — that she was underage.
"When he heard that she's afraid of flying, he took a bottle of alcohol out of [his] bag and said it would help her relax," prosecutors wrote.
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The girl later reported the abuse to a friend.
“Thanks to the courage of a brave girl who reported what happened in the dark on a plane and swift engagement from law enforcement, this defendant was brought to justice,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in August 2024 when Coffey pleaded guilty. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting the public in the air, on the ground, or at sea.”
Coffey pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of abusive sexual contact of a minor on an aircraft and received the maximum sentence for that crime.
