Teen records Texas man groping her on flight, then turns him in to the FBI, feds say
A 76-year-old man is accused of groping a teen girl vacationing with family during a flight to Montana, officials say.
Vincent Harry Kopacek, 76, of Fredericksburg, Texas, was charged Monday with attempted sexual abuse of a minor, abusive sexual contact and assault within maritime and territorial jurisdiction.
The 15-year-old girl sat in a window seat next to her sister and mom, who had an aisle seat, on a July 8 flight from Austin to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. Her dad was several rows in front of them.
The girl told investigators a stranger sitting behind her reached his hand around her seat next to the interior wall and began to touch her body during the flight, according to a criminal complaint. She said he squeezed her arm before takeoff and groped her breast later in the flight, the complaint says.
He attempted to touch the front of her pants, according to the complaint, but the girl said she moved to stop him.
The girl said she got up to use the restroom several times during the flight and the man appeared to be sleeping, but he continued touching her when she returned, the complaint says.
She recorded over 20 short videos and took several photographs during flight.
At least one video captured a “larger, white hand” groping the girl over her shirt, officials say. The girl also took a photo of the man in his seat on the plane and while walking to the baggage claim.
The girl told investigators she “tried to distract herself so she would not cry” and was “scared that the (man) would get his hands into her pants,” according to the complaint. She said she “felt guilty for not speaking up,” the complaint says.
After the family checked into a hotel, the girl told her sister and then her parents, who contacted law enforcement, officials say.
FBI agents arrested Kopacek on Sunday when he checked in for his flight departing the airport.
This story was originally published July 13, 2021 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Teen records Texas man groping her on flight, then turns him in to the FBI, feds say."