Ganesh Parkar moved from business to economy class, next to victim.
An Indian man from Windsor, New Jersey, Ganesh Parkar, 40, appeared in federal court on last week to face charges that he sexually abused a woman on a flight from Mumbai to Newark Liberty International Airport, on an Air India flight.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced that Parkar was charged by criminal complaint with one count of abusive sexual contact on an airplane.
Parkar, who is an Indian citizen, had his initial appearance on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk in Newark federal court and was released on $50,000 unsecured bond, home detention with electronic monitoring and surrender of his passport and all travel documents, according to the Justice Department.
According to the complaint: while on a December 21 Air India flight from Mumbai to Newark, Parkar moved from his ticketed seat in the business class section of the plane to the economy class section and sat next to a female passenger seated in a center row. When the woman fell asleep, Parkar placed his hand on her breast without her consent.
The abusive sexual contact charge carries a statutory maximum of up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.