San Diego Man Sentenced For Sex Abuse Of Teen On Flight

SAN DIEGO, CA — A San Diego man who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl while the pair were passengers on a cross-country flight was sentenced Monday to two years in prison.

Ryan Coffey admitted in a plea agreement to giving the teen rum and inappropriately touching the girl on a Jan. 7, 2023, American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to San Diego.

Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that another passenger on the plane overheard the girl tell Coffey -- who was 31 years old at the time -- that she was underage.

"When he heard that she's afraid of flying, he took a bottle of alcohol out of [his] bag and said it would help her relax," prosecutors wrote. The girl later reported the abuse to a friend.

Coffey pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of abusive sexual contact of a minor on an aircraft.

— City News Service