Delta Air Lines Airlines.Photo:File: Getty
File: Getty
A Georgia doctor is accused of groping a woman sitting next to him on a flight to Maine, where he was allegedly planning to propose to his girlfriend, authorities say.
The alleged victim claimed that around some point during the flight, Cho had touched his feet with her feet, and “appeared to have spasmed,” before reaching over to allegedly touch her genital area outside her pants, according to the complaint. She yelled “Excuse me,” before the man removed his hand, the complaint alleges.
Once the flight landed, he stood up — as soon as it was safe to do so — and moved away from the alleged victim, the complaint states.
On April 1, Cho was brought in for voluntary questioning again, per the complaint. Cho continued to deny the allegations and reportedly said the woman was making the story up. But, this time around, Cho agreed to take a polygraph test.
“Eventually while maintaining that the actions were not sexual, Cho admitted that he touched Victim 1 during the flight,” the complaint alleges.
In the complaint, authorities allege Cho told federal investigators in a written statement that he “intended to only squeeze her upper right thigh and never intended to touch her crotch.”
Cho added, “Because my glasses were off and it was dark, my hand slipped from her upper thigh to her crotch,” the complaint alleges. “As soon as I did this, she instantly exclaimed something loudly which caused me to remove my hand from her leg and sit straight up.”
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Cho allegedly said he was “so embarrassed and did not know what to do, so I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep for the remainder of the flight.” The complaint states that he also “expressed regret for any harm he may have caused.
Prosecutors served Cho with a summons to appear in Maine federal court on June 8,The Daily Beastreports. It’s unclear if he has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
According to hisbio, Cho, who is board-certified in internal medicine, graduated from the University of Florida College of Medicine in 2017, and completed a fellowship at Maine Medical Center.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
source: people.com
