East Texas man arrested, accused of groping woman on board American Airlines flight
An East Texas man is facing potential federal charges after allegedly groping a woman on board an American Airlines flight, according to court documents.
The man, identified as 55-year-old Cherian Abraham, was seated next to the 22-year-old woman on a March 18 flight from Chicago to Seattle, according to an affidavit.
Abraham allegedly touched the woman’s breast three times over the course of 15 minutes, according to the affidavit.
A witness told investigators that the alleged victim woke her up and asked to get up because of the man’s actions, the affidavit states.
After alerting a flight attendant, the victim was moved to another seat, according to the affidavit.
Abraham denied having touched the victim purposefully or having been previously accused of anything similar, according to the affidavit.
An FBI investigator later found that Abraham had been accused of touching women on at least two other American Airlines flights in 2023 and 2024, according to the affidavit.
The victim in the 2024 incident filed a customer complaint with the airline, and the victim from the 2023 incident spoke to airport police, but declined to file charges, officials said.
“The safety of our customers and team members is our highest priority. We take this matter very seriously and are working closely with law enforcement on its investigation,” an American Airlines spokesperson said Tuesday.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 6:07 PM.
