Delta Pilot And Ex-Girlfriend To Stand Trial On 24 Counts Of Child Sexual Abuse

CONCORD — A Delta Airlines pilot and his ex-girlfriend will stand trial on 24 counts linked to the sexual abuse of a young girl, a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

The ruling comes after prosecutors presented evidence against Rustom Bhagwagar and Jennifer Powell this week. According to KRON4, the only witness to take the stand during the course of the preliminary hearing was a Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office investigator who worked with Powell to coordinate Bhagwaga's high profile arrest at San Francisco International Airport in July.

Bhagwagar, 34 of Florida, Powell, 45, of Contra Costa County, will be tried on 24 felony charges including engaging in a sexual act with a child 10 years old or younger, oral copulation with a child, forceable lewd acts upon a child, and aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to the Contra County District Attorney's Office.

According to investigators, Bhagwagar is currently in custody at the Martinez Detention Facility on a 15-million-dollar bond. If convicted, Bhagwagar and Powell face 15 years to life in state prison.

Prosecutors allege the former couple conspired to sexually abuse Powell's relative over the course of several years when the child was between the ages of 6 and 11.

The abuse occurred between 2018 and 2023 in Contra Costa County, prosecutors contend. Powell knew the child Delta Pilot's Ex-Girlfriend Participated In Daughter's Sex Abuse: Reportswas being abused and even watched and participated in the criminal acts, according to KTVU.

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Bhagwagar was arrested July 26 when federal agents stormed the cockpit of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-300 shortly after it touched down at San Francisco International Airport, according to the airline and video posted to social media by passengers.

Bhagwagar, the co-pilot was arrested in the cockpit by Homeland Security officials and Federal Air Marshals, while passengers and flight staff looked on.

“A group of people with badges, guns, and different agency vests/markings were pushing their way up through the aisle to the cockpit,” a passenger told The San Francisco Chronicle. The officers “stormed the cockpit, cuffed the co-pilot, arrested him, walked him down the aisle, and ushered him off the plane through the cabin doors located between first and coach.”

Patch Staffer Anna Schier contributed to this report.