Man traps 18-year-old in Alaska Airline’s window seat and gropes her, feds say

A man is facing prison time after being convicted of trapping an 18-year-old in her seat while aboard a plane before groping her, federal officials said.

In March, Justin Baker, 41, was on an Alaska Airlines flight from Burbank, California to Seattle, Washington, when he learned the woman sitting next to him in the window seat “was preparing to go to college and was just 18-years-old,” according to an Oct. 24 news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Baker went through his phone, found sexually explicit texts between him and his wife, and showed the woman, according to court documents.

Then he draped his jacket over their laps, officials said.

The woman moved closer to the plane’s wall before Baker groped her legs and genitals, officials said.

Then he “reached into her top and groped her breast,” officials said.

The woman had told Baker “no” when he first touched her, but he continued, prosecutors said.

Baker “saw the word ‘no’ as a speedbump, not a stop sign, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristine Foerster, during the three-day trial’s closing argument.

When the victim passed Baker to tell the flight crew what was happening, “he groped her buttocks,” officials said.

Baker was arrested when the plane landed in Washington, officials said.

McClatchy News reached out to Baker’s lawyer and Alaska Airlines for a statement on Oct. 25 and was awaiting a response.

Baker is facing up to two years in prison, officials said.

He is scheduled to reappear in court on Jan. 21, 2025 for sentencing, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Man traps 18-year-old in Alaska Airline’s window seat and gropes her, feds say."