A United Airlines aerospace engineer accused of groping two passengers, including a minor, aboard a flight from Dallas to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport has denied the charges in federal court. Syed Alam faces two counts of abusive sexual contact, including one count involving a minor, stemming from the February 16 flight, and was released on revised conditions after spending eight days in jail.
Alam was accused of intentionally touching two victims’ breasts through their clothing aboard American Airlines Flight 1091 as it traveled from Dallas to Charlotte, according to the Charlotte Observer. One of the victims was a child older than 12 but younger than 16, the paper reports. Alam denied the charges of grabbing a minor’s breast during the flight, according to the same report.
Alam was arrested in the Eastern District of Virginia in July, and his case will now progress in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. According to LinkedIn, he is employed by United Airlines as an aerospace engineer and aircraft tooling planner, even though the alleged conduct occurred while he was a passenger on a rival carrier’s flight.
Prosecutors Withheld a Detention Request
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Kelly withheld a motion to detain Alam, telling U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler that he did so out of respect for the Virginia judge’s earlier ruling, per the Observer’s report. That decision came even though a regional U.S. Attorney’s Office had asked that Alam be held in jail, the paper notes…