Man charged with groping 13-year-old girl on flight ordered to remain in jail

An Oregon man accused of groping an unaccompanied a 13-year-old girl on an American Airlines flight late last week has been ordered to remain in custody until at least mid-July, a federal judge ruled Monday, while the alleged victim’s family says it is preparing to sue the airline.

Chad Cameron Camp, 26, is charged with one federal count of abusive sexual contact after he allegedly fondled the girl on a flight from Dallas to Portland Wednesday night.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court, a flight attendant noticed Camp’s hand on a 13-year-old girl’s crotch about 30 minutes after takeoff and “a single tear coming down the victim’s cheek” as she sat in the window seat.

Flight attendants moved Camp to the back of the plane and the teenager to the front for the rest flight, and informed the captain, who in turn alerted authorities. When the plane landed, the unaccompanied minor was rushed off the plane, which was met by FBI agents at the gate, and Camp was arrested.

She told an FBI agent after she landed that she “was frightened and felt trapped,” the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Camp, who was assigned a seat next to the girl, declined a flight attendant’s offer to move to an empty seat on the half-filled plane upon boarding.

“No, I’m fine,” Camp allegedly told the flight attendant.

The suspect “mumbled and cursed to himself before attempting to make small talk,” according to the complaint, leaning in and brushing up against her upper arm and shoulder while turning the pages of a magazine.

“Each time he turned the page he used his elbow to brush up against the victim’s shoulder and upper arm area,” the complaint states. “The victim attempted to move away from Camp’s physical contact, and each time she withdrew, he would laugh.

“After finishing with the magazine, Camp leaned toward the victim to place the magazine in the seat pocket in front of the victim,” the complaint continues. “Camp instead dropped the magazine on the victim’s shoes.”

Camp twice offered to share his headphones with her, according to the complaint. When she declined, he threw them in her lap, and repeatedly placed his hand on her knee and upper thigh.

“At one point she said, ‘What are you doing to me?’ And nobody could hear because no one was even close enough,” the girl’s mother told KOIN. “If somebody would have been close enough to hear, it could have been prevented.”

In a statement, American Airlines said, “We take these matters very seriously and have cooperated fully and immediately with law enforcement officials in their investigation of the suspect.”

“American cares deeply about our young passengers and is committed to providing a safe and pleasant travel experience for them,” the carrier added in a separate statement to CNN.

Brent Goodfellow, a lawyer representing the girl’s family, called the airline’s statement “a slap in the face.”

“This was 30 minutes of hell for this young lady,” Goodfellow told the Washington Post. “If I have my tray table down or my seat back two inches during the improper time, those guys are going to be on me immediately. … This girl got abused for 30 minutes and no one was to be found.”

Goodfellow said the family paid an additional fee of $300 round trip for the girl to fly without an adult. According to its website, American Airlines charges $150 each way for “unaccompanied minor service” for children ages 5 to 17.

“Our unaccompanied minor service is to ensure your child is boarded onto the aircraft, introduced to the flight attendant, chaperoned during connections and released to the appropriate person at their destination,” the airline’s website states.

Goodfellow says the child was touched by Camp more than 15 times. According to the complaint, Camp denied doing anything wrong when confronted by the flight attendant. According to the Oregonian, Camp appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in Portland on Thursday, when his attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

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