Posted on 10/12/2007 5:46:32 AM PDT by Sopater
An 11-year-old Alabama girl flying alone from San Diego to Atlanta says a man slipped into the empty seat beside her and sexually molested her on a crowded Delta jet.
The disturbing charges were made public in a lawsuit filed last week in Fulton County State Court could make parents think twice before placing any unescorted child on a bus, plane or train. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Delta, with more than 1,000 flights a day leaving Atlanta alone, estimates it carries thousands of unescorted young fliers a year.
Savannah lawyer Mark Tate, who is representing the family, said the girl, whose name was withheld in the lawsuit, was traumatized by the incident.
Although the girl reported the incident to her mother when she got off the plane, Tate said no criminal charges have been filed and no suspect identified. The mother took the report to Huntsville police, Atlanta police and eventually the FBI.
"Delta has a very high burden to meet in protecting passengers," said Tate. "We feel Delta didn't meet that. This little girl is not doing well. It's caused severe problems."
Airline officials refused to directly address the charges in the lawsuit.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
I think they are responsible for making sure the child gets where she needs to be so she doesn’t get lost in plane changes and things.
I just don’t see how they can be expected to know that something like this report indicates is happening if the girl doesn’t report it and the other surrounding passengers didn’t appear to notice. The flight attendants have a whole plane to serve. They can’t help her if she doesn’t alert them.
I think the very fact that we don’t know who the man is, is suspect. They know who was on that plane. If there was any basis for the complaint, they’d have been able to get a name.
There is no proof that this really happened. If you have taught your children to raise a rukus if touched inappropriately, it is as safe as allowing them to ride the bus to school or allowing them to go into a public restroom.
“...OBVIOUSLY, THIS GIRL BEING MOLESTED...”
How do you know she was molested? Do you have information that the rest of us do not?
If so, spill.
You should have second thoughts about it now. The statement I made was intended to make people “think” about this. O.K., so yea, the kid will be turned over to and overseen by the “Flight Attendants”. Where do you think we live folks? I don’t automatically see halo’s floating over everyone and anyone wearing a Flight Attendant suit! They are drawn from the same cesspool society and culture the rest of us are forced to swim in. Yea, turn your kid over to that bull dyke flight attendant or the one who looks like Michael Vick in drag because he/she is a tranny, and take your chances. Does anyone here have any idea how many kids go missing in this country every year? Get a grip or more important get some real information about what’s really going on. Step outside the burbs long enough to get a whiff of GP, (General Population)!
I agree. Just too many gaps in execution and information, to wit:
-The incident happened in January and the lawsuit is just being filed in October?
-Nobody is sitting in their assigned seat, so the passenger list (if it still exists) cannot be used to identify the possible assailant (other than placing every man on the flight under suspicion).
-Terminal surveillence tapes get recycled periodically. Given the amount of time since the incident occurred, the possibility of using it to make an identification is probably gone as well.
- Finally, before getting too committed to the story, remember that kids do make up some pretty serious things out of whole cloth and that false claims to extort money from public accommodations do get made from time to time.
To be fair, the terrible converse must be held to be possible as well; that a young girl traveling alone WAS molested on a flight from San Diego to Atlanta.
Hey I just traveled on a plane Wednesday. Maybe I need to get in on this quick money making scheme. Mother and Daughter needed a way for future college finances and seems to have found the way.
sw
I think this may be a set up but not sure. It has the hint of separated parents Marine father in SD on leave yet the father and girl visit alone in SD? Does not compute. Also why in the hell didn’t the girl yell or shout???
Let's say this attack happened, why wasn't this girl taught to stand up for herself and defend herself?
LOL
My (then HS aged) daughter asked for some boots - we live in AK, makes sense.
She showed me the boots - German Tanker boots. OK, they are surplus and wear well. She insisted on the steel toed version - OK, safety first.
Where would she wear these - in a mosh pit of course. The young men learned very quickly about getting too close.
She does kick boxing as well. I know my grandkids are safe....
Why in the world was an eleven year old flying alone?
Confused...
I was thinking the same thing, this smells might fishy..
(a) If when my daughter got off a plane she told me this I would rip the airport apart with my bear hands trying to get a hold of the guy.
(b) Did she not even bother to hit the stewerdess button for help?
And, at what age, should said statute not make it criminal?
Dumb question: Why didn't you fly with her?
You are such an ass. What would you know about it?
My daughter was a little skinnier and had really BIG boots. More than a few bloody shins at the and of the evening...
I was making an obscure reference to this thread
An Open Letter to the Ron Paul Faithful
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1910141/posts
and the fact that Ron Paul supporters have a reputation of spamming online polls. So when the question was asked as to how you should vote on a completely unrelated online poll, my answer was “Ron Paul”.
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