Rand Paul’s Son, William Hilton Paul, Charged With Assaulting Flight Attendant [PHOTO]

William Hilton Paul, the 19-year-old son of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and the grandson of former presidential candidate Ron Paul, is being accused of physically assaulting a female flight attendant during a flight last weekend, the Charlotte Observer reported.

The publication said the Charlotte-Mecklenberg police confirmed that Paul had been charged with a misdemeanor assault on a female by “aggressive physical force” on Saturday.

Paul was arrested at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina last Saturday on drinking-related offenses as his father prepared to leave the country for a highly publicized trip to Israel.

The teenager was initially charged with consuming alcohol underage, disorderly conduct, and being intoxicated and disruptive, all of which are misdemeanor offenses, but initial reports did not mention the assault charge, and law enforcement officials also did not initially discuss whether Paul had been drinking on the plane.

Police Lt. Blake Hollar from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s office said that Paul “was possibly served alcohol on the flight.”

In an interview with the Charlotte Observer, Lt. Shawn Crooks said that the four charges had all been filed against Paul on Jan.5 and that he was not sure why the media had not reported the assault charge. However, the assault charge does not appear on the Sherriff’s Office’s public database.

Records showed that police made the arrest at 10:49 a.m., shortly after Paul's flight landed at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Media outlets reported that he was released at about 11:15 p.m. on $750 bail.

Although Sen. Rand Paul has not specifically addressed his son’s arrest, his senior communications director, Moira Bagley, released a statement on Sunday afternoon, saying, "Sen. Paul is a national public figure and subject to scrutiny in the public arena; however, as many parents with teenagers would understand, his family should be afforded the privacy and respect they deserve in a situation such as this.”

A call to the Charlotte-Mecklenberg County Sheriff’s office had not yet been returned at the time this story was published.