Man Accused Of Sexual Assault On Spirit Airlines Flight

A man from India was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit for aggravated sexual abuse of a sleeping woman on a Spirit Airlines flight en route to Detroit from Las Vegas, according to court filings. Prabhu Ramamoorthy, 34, faces a detention hearing in federal court Thursday at 1 p.m. local time, according to the Detroit News.

The complaint alleges that the 22-year-old woman fell asleep during the Wednesday flight and awoke “to [his] hand in her pants and noticed that her pants and shirt were unbuttoned.” The woman alleged that Ramamoorthy’s fingers were in her genitals and that he was “vigorously moving them.” She said he stopped when she woke up.

The woman immediately reported the incident to flight attendants who said she “appeared visibly upset and was crying.”

Ramamoorthy was arrested at Detroit’s Metro Airport. He told an FBI agent that he "'might have' undone (the woman's) bra while playing with it, and that he had cupped her (clothed) breast," according to the complaint. Ramamoorthy also indicated that he partially unzipped her pants and inserted his finger, and may have unsuccessfully attempted to put his finger in her vagina.

In a written statement, Ramamoorthy said that he himself was in a “deep sleep” and wasn’t sure where his hand landed on the woman, but he amended that statement when speaking with the agent.

Ramamoorthy isn’t a U.S. citizen. He can request to have his home country notified of the charges against him in order to help facilitate legal assistance and to tell his family. Ramamoorthy’s public defender, Jill Leslie Price, said that he was willing to go through that process.