Tulsa man convicted of groping woman on Southwest Airlines flight to Dallas
.png "Screenshot showing William McKelvy on an officer’s body-worn camera video, which was admitted as evidence during McKelvy’s trial in June 2025. He was found guilty of abusive sexual contact for groping a woman on a Southwest Airlines flight to Dallas Love Field Airport in April 2023.")
A 65-year-old Oklahoma man has been convicted in federal court of groping a woman onboard a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Dallas two years ago, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Texas.
William R. McKelvy, of Tulsa, was found guilty of abusive sexual contact after a brief jury trial June 4, federal prosecutors said in a news release.
McKelvy was onboard a Southwest flight to Dallas Love Field in April 2023 when he groped the breast and inner thigh of the woman in the seat next to him four times, according to the release.
In the first instance, the woman thought McKelvy had made inadvertent contact with her and did not say anything. When McKelvy tried again minutes later, she pushed him away forcefully and told him to keep his hands to himself, federal authorities said.
McKelvy touched the woman again a third and fourth time, at which point the victim yelled, “Get your (expletive) hand off me, or I will break your (expletive) hand,” according to the statement.
Other passengers intervened to flag down a flight attendant and tell McKelvy to stop his behavior, according to the statement. Attendants moved McKelvy to the back of the plane and arranged for police to meet him at Love Field Airport.
When McKelvy met with officers, he told police that he had vaped on the plane and “flirted with this chick,” federal authorities said. The FBI and Dallas police investigated the case.
At trial, McKelvy testified that he did not remember the incident due to his consumption of alcohol and marijuana gummies before the flight.
The jury returned the guilty verdict in 30 minutes.
McKelvy will be sentenced in September and faces a maximum of three years in federal prison.
