• Off-duty pilot convicted of trying to get into 14-year-old girl's cockpit
    25 replies, posted
[img]http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2014_13/289291/131031-pilot-mug-1815_1e563e9d03dc1601eb292009b66fe486.nbcnews-ux-440-520.jpg[/img] [I]"wasn't worth my pilots license"[/I] [quote=huffington]SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An airline pilot was convicted this week of two counts of abusive sexual contact for groping a 14-year-old girl while he was a passenger on a flight from Detroit to Salt Lake City last year. Michael Pascal, who has homes in Park City, Utah, and Texas, was found guilty Thursday by a jury after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. The girl told investigators that she woke up from a nap on an Oct. 26 Delta Airlines flight and found Pascal's hand under her, gripping her buttocks. She was sitting next to a window, and Pascal was in the middle seat. Pascal, 45, who worked at the time as a pilot for a regional airline carrier that contracts with Delta, [B]told investigators he fell asleep with his hands in his lap and doesn't know how one ended up underneath the girl.[/B] He's scheduled to be sentenced July 29 and could face up to five years in prison. The girl told authorities she elbowed Pascal after waking up with his hand underneath her and said, "What the hell are you doing?" court documents show. She says Pascal pulled his hand out from under her and said, [B]"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was asleep, I have to use the bathroom."[/B][/quote] [url="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/30/airline-pilot-michael-pascal_n_5058404.html?ir=Crime"] Be sure to read the rest of the details in the source[/url] [url="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/duty-pilot-convicted-groping-girl-flight-n66981"]Smaller NBC source[/url] What do you think FP; that he was completely aware of what he was doing? Or do you think he's an innocent man stuck in a shitty situation?
Your hands can end up in some pretty strange places when you sleep but under someone's ass seems hard to believe.
If he could prove that he's a "sleep pedophile" and truly wasn't aware of what he was doing, and that he truly was asleep when he did it, then I guess he might have a case to make. But good luck with that. And good luck trying to find a lawyer who would be willing to make that case.
Given that people are capable of getting out of bed and walking around, and talking in their sleep, it's not a long shot that just your hands can move. His body may just have been looking for somewhere warm to put his hand, but on the flip side it does seem sort of unlikely.
Wouldn't you wake up from the weight of her sitting on your hand?
[QUOTE=kidwithsword;44410306]If he could prove that he's a "sleep pedophile" and truly wasn't aware of what he was doing, and that he truly was asleep when he did it, then I guess he might have a case to make. But good luck with that. And good luck trying to find a lawyer who would be willing to make that case.[/QUOTE] you mean any lawyer ever since they would know that you'd need criminal intent to actually be charged with anything
[QUOTE=WisdomChief;44410359]Wouldn't you wake up from the weight of her sitting on your hand?[/QUOTE] Nah. When you're asleep, your body can move... strangely. Kids move a lot, adults - not so much, but some people keep this trait. Considering you can wake up with one or more your limbs "still asleep" so to speak, it's not entirely unlikely he hadn't woken up from discomfort. I myself sleeping with my girlfriend can embrace her very hard sometimes, and my arm that was placed under her body would hurt like a bitch in the morning. Sleeping is weird.
I've woken up with my head at the foot of the bed and still have no idea how that happened. Planes don't really have a whole lot of personal space for a bigger guy. I suppose he could have dropped his hand off the arm rest in his sleep onto her chair, and she rolls onto it in her sleep. It still seems odd but that's about the only way I could see it happening innocently. I guess there's just a lot of circumstances we don't know in this case. Its certainly embarrassing if it wasn't intentional.
I have punched myself in the face while sleeping [editline]31st March 2014[/editline] and my girlfriend
I dunno, seems like a bad idea to try and grope someone on a plane, I'm sure paedophiles and Molesters are at least smart enough to realize to try and run away if they get caught. But then he could have just saw the girl sleeping and just took a chance. So I don't know.
[QUOTE=Samwd1;44410485]But then he could have just saw the girl sleeping and just took a chance.[/QUOTE] And then tried to defend himself with "but I was asleep!", yeah, doesn't seem super far fetched either. Sucks for the guy if he's innocent, very tough situation.
Raises a good question: what happens if you break the law while asleep?
[QUOTE=Trumple;44410561]Raises a good question: what happens if you break the law while asleep?[/QUOTE] night jail [editline]e[/editline] the whole 'could be innocent' thing is something we all fear, facing punishment for something we truly didn't try to do the one problem his excuse faces right now is the 'immediately running to the bathroom' part. you could easily pin it on him planning to grope then go take care of business while it's fresh on his mind. He clearly 'woke up' from her reacting, not from naturally having the urge to go to the bathroom. At the same time, who's to say that wasn't his "oh jesus what just happened I'm sorry I feel really bad and I'm just going to not be around you for a bit because that was creepy" response
he probably went to fap after or was his hands if he was really asleep who knows
[i]how long was he in the bathroom for this is importanttt[/i]
Innocent until proven guilty.
[QUOTE=SEKCobra;44411018]Innocent until proven guilty.[/QUOTE] Yeah, but they have a pretty solid case against him.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKkNQ8l9XqQ[/media]
[QUOTE=gudman;44410441]I myself sleeping with my girlfriend can embrace her very hard sometimes, and my arm that was placed under her body would hurt like a bitch in the morning. Sleeping is weird.[/QUOTE] Guess it's just me then, I envy this because I can't hug my lovers into the night ):
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;44411167]Yeah, but they have a pretty solid case against him.[/QUOTE] Beyond all reasonable doubt? Off what we have I would argue his excuse is plausible enough to be reasonable doubt.
five years for touching butt while the guy in the other thread rapes and molests his two children and gets away with 3 years probation LOL
[QUOTE=CheeseMan;44414295]five years for touching butt while the guy in the other thread rapes and molests his two children and gets away with 3 years probation LOL[/QUOTE] Up to 5 years. Also if he didn't do it on purpose, which come on, why would you ever risk doing something like that to a complete stranger and knowing if it fails you'll be stuck next to them the whole fucking flight. And seriously grabbing a butt that is sitting down doesn't seem like something anyone would want to do. I mean he's better off getting a feel when she's getting up or something. It just doesn't make sense, not that I'm encouraging anyone to do that but shit who the fuck tries to cope a feel on a butt that is pressed against a seat? But to continue what I started typing, it's fucking scary being accused of something you didn't do. Back in highschool some chick I didn't know went to the dean and said I like felt her up behind the gym and like said weird ass shit to her. Do you know what it's like to be called into the office and be told what you were being accused of, I thought I was so fucked, I mean who is going to believe me? Fortunately for me literally 20 classmates all testified for me that I have never gone near her and she ended saying some weird crazy shit to the dean so he dismissed the whole thing. I mean go ahead and make jokes about it and shit but once you're in that kind of situation it's one of the worst feelings in the world.
He best be careful, that's the fast lane, on the highway to the danger zone.
[QUOTE=avincent;44414676]Up to 5 years. Also if he didn't do it on purpose, which come on, why would you ever risk doing something like that to a complete stranger and knowing if it fails you'll be stuck next to them the whole fucking flight. And seriously grabbing a butt that is sitting down doesn't seem like something anyone would want to do. I mean he's better off getting a feel when she's getting up or something. It just doesn't make sense, not that I'm encouraging anyone to do that but shit who the fuck tries to cope a feel on a butt that is pressed against a seat? But to continue what I started typing, it's fucking scary being accused of something you didn't do. Back in highschool some chick I didn't know went to the dean and said I like felt her up behind the gym and like said weird ass shit to her. Do you know what it's like to be called into the office and be told what you were being accused of, I thought I was so fucked, I mean who is going to believe me? Fortunately for me literally 20 classmates all testified for me that I have never gone near her and she ended saying some weird crazy shit to the dean so he dismissed the whole thing. I mean go ahead and make jokes about it and shit but once you're in that kind of situation it's one of the worst feelings in the world.[/QUOTE] I imagine this will be their argument in court. Our court system is really fucking dumb. Minor grievances have the potential to land someone in jail for mind blowingly large amounts of time, but people say "no it won't happen like that, they'll get a minor sentence", but [B]why is it worded like that in the first place[/B]. Why even have laws with outlined punishments at that point? The court has all the power in the world anyway. This loose construction is really fucking worrying and, while I'm not very well learned in the (bullshit) world of law, I see the above constantly.
Sleep walking and such is one thing, but sleep "sliding your hand under the arm rest and under a nearby girls butt" isn't really something one does in their sleep. It'd be pretty difficult for her to move in such a way for his arm to accidentally fall into the seats, so yeah no, not really buying the "it was an accident" line. Groping people on [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groping#Japan]trains[/url] is already a well-documented issue in some parts of the world, crowded train or not, so it doesn't seem far-fetched that a person would take advantage of girl sleeping next to them on a plane. Sure it's less crowded, but what's CCTV like on airplanes? It doesn't make what he (probably) did any better, but he probably didn't know she was fourteen, she may have looked a lot older and he might have taken her for some just young woman, he probably didn't know she was a minor. Though as said, doesn't make it any better.
[QUOTE=kidwithsword;44410306]If he could prove that he's a "sleep pedophile" and truly wasn't aware of what he was doing, and that he truly was asleep when he did it, then I guess he might have a case to make. But good luck with that. And good luck trying to find a lawyer who would be willing to make that case.[/QUOTE] sleep pedophiles sounds like something my mom would've told me to watch out for on the subway
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