California man Brian Patrick Durning has been accused of groping a young girl and then a woman who came to her aid, and he says Ambien is to blame.
Per the Daily Beast, the criminal complaint shows that the 51-year-old man was arrested for the alleged behavior once the Delta flight arrived at Orlando International Airport. According to the complaint, he was sat in the aisle seat next to the victim, who has not been named because they are a minor. Her mother was sat elsewhere on the flight due to “reservation issues.”
Shortly after the flight took off, the alleged perpetrator requested an alcoholic beverage and almost immediately started to act inappropriate. “After consuming the drink, Durning began to cough and sneeze on MV,” the complaint reads, with MV referring to "Minor Victim" in court filings. “At some point thereafter, Durning began to touch MV’s hair and neck. He also tried to put his arm around MV. When he did so, MV tried to lean away from Durning.”
After she moved away, he allegedly began to “touch [her] inner left thigh, moving her thigh toward him, as he called her ‘honey-boo.’” He then proceeded to move his hand up her thigh, and penetrated her “over her clothing.” The woman who sat on the other side of Durning was asleep at the time of the assault, but when she woke up she noticed him quickly move his hand away from her thigh. “[They] asked MV, ‘Did he touch you?’ and MV responded affirmatively," reads the complaint, which noted that the victim was "shaking and crying" at this point.
The woman switched seats with the man, and she notified at flight attendant about the assault. When the woman informed the man he was scaring the young girl, he allegedly attempted to grab the woman’s breast. The girl’s mother later turned around to see what was happening, and her daughter mouthed the words, “He touched me.” The mother noticed that his pants were unzipped.
“Shortly thereafter, a flight attendant reassigned seats to remove Durning from MV’s presence," reads the complaint. “Durning stated that during the flight, he took an Ambien pill and had one glass of white wine. Durning stated that he fell asleep. He stated that the next thing he remembered was someone waking him up and asking him to switch seats.”
He has been charged with committing a crime aboard an aircraft in flight, and abusive sexual contact involving young children. "Delta continues to cooperate with law enforcement in this matter," said a Delta spokesperson. "We have zero tolerance for this type of alleged behavior on our flights and at our airports and the charged individual is no longer welcome to fly Delta."
