NJ Man Sexually Assaulted Woman On Flight To Texas, Authorities Say

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A Morris County man is facing federal charges after allegedly sexually assaulting a fellow passenger on an American Airlines flight to Texas earlier this year, federal authorities said.

Bhaveshkumar Dahyabhai Shukla, a 36-year-old from the Lake Hiawatha section of Parsippany, has been charged with one count of abusive sexual contact, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana.

The charges stem from an alleged incident on Jan. 26, 2025, in which Shukla "engaged in sexual contact with another person without that person’s permission" on an American Airlines flight from Bozeman, Montana, to Dallas, Texas.

Prosecutors say Shukla was seated next to a woman and her child when the assault occurred. The victim told police that she instructed him to stop touching her, and he initially complied. However, Shukla resumed touching the woman when she returned to her seat after using the restroom, court records state.

The woman told authorities that Shukla had inappropriately touched her thighs, buttocks, and lower back, and had even used his jacket in an attempt to conceal his actions.

Court records show the woman texted her husband, who was not on the flight, to alert him about the assault. He then contacted the FBI National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) to report the incident.

The husband also alerted authorities at the airport in Texas, who detained Shukla while he was deboarding the plane, prosecutors said.

Shukla was interviewed upon landing in Dallas, where he denied touching the woman and claimed not to speak English, despite the victim stating she had spoken to him in English during the plane's initial takeoff.

Shukla is scheduled for an arraignment on April 17, 2025. If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release.