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 ...
Dear Penthouse...
The modern version is, "One time, on my way to band camp,...". LOL!
I got it. :-)
And in just 64 days!
No one in any of the seats around the girl was unself-absorbed enough to notice anything out of the ordinary?
Children ALWAYS noticed her and would follow us around.
Adults, however, rarely noticed the bright blue and yellow 32” exotic creature that would even say ‘hello’ to them.
What I wanted to show my girls is that THEY need to be vigilant because most adults are not when it comes to safety, predators, etc.
I am doing the same but children can get frightened or be so scared they do nothing.
While I am not stupid and *usually* react well in an emergency (all heads turn to me when there are broken bones or blood) this time I became paralyzed. Rather than put it out (duh), I frantically called 911 and got all the critters out in a stupid daze.
In hindsight, I go over all the ‘should have dones’ and ‘I knew betters’ (like grab an extinguisher and save the kitchen!) but the ‘connection’ wasn’t made at the time.
So, YES, an 11 year-old absolutely CAN shut down in a situation like that even though they’ve been taught all the Stranger-Danger stuff.
LMR
(PS - no one was hurt and Santa is bringing a brand new updated kitchen this year!)
Very sad. People are so caught up in their own little world.
Whoa, you need to up your dosage!
because there are thousands of minors who travel unaccompanied every year, and nothing happens to them? that fact would pretty much prove that yes is the correct answer, would it not?
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