Man pins 18-year-old to airplane window and gropes her on flight to California, feds say

A man is going to prison after being convicted of groping an 18-year-old on an Alaska Airlines flight, federal officials said.

In March 2024, Justin Baker, now 42, was flying from Burbank, California, to Seattle, Washington, when he learned the woman next to him “was preparing to go to college and was just 18 years old,” McClatchy News reported.

Baker began “bumping his knee” into the woman’s knee before she moved closer to the window so she wouldn’t be touched, court documents said.

Then, Baker showed the woman texts between him and his wife about engaging in sexual acts, documents said.

Baker touched the woman’s thigh before eventually draping his jacket over both their laps, documents said.

She attempted to move away from him, but he reached under the jacket and groped her thigh again despite her saying “no” when he first tried to touch her, according to a Feb. 18 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

He then groped her genitals over her clothing before reaching into her shirt and groping her breast, prosecutors said.

She eventually got up to tell the flight crew, officials said, and when she passed Baker, he groped her buttocks.

McClatchy News reached out to Alaska Airlines and Baker’s lawyer for a statement on Feb. 19 and was awaiting a response.

During the trial, the victim told the court the assault “shattered the trajectory of her life” as she has anxiety surrounding flying and airports, the release said.

Baker was sentenced to two years in prison for abusive sexual contact, officials said.

Upon his release from prison, Baker will be on five years of federal supervision and must register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Man pins 18-year-old to airplane window and gropes her on flight to California, feds say."