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San Diego resident Ryan Coffey offered alcohol to a 14-year-old boy sitting next to him on a cross-border flight in January 2023, according to court records.
He did not know the girl, who was 17 years his junior, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
But that didn’t prevent Coffey from being sexually assaulted during a more than five-hour evening flight on American Airlines from Charlotte, North Carolina, to San Diego.
Now, a federal judge has sentenced Coffey to prison for his actions.
The now 33-year-old was sentenced Monday to two years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release and ordered to pay just under $11,000 in fines and restitution. Coffey pleaded guilty in August to sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact.
A call to his attorney was not immediately returned.
According to the Department of Justice, Coffey admitted in court to giving the girl rum and touching her inner thighs and breasts.
One of the passengers said he heard the minor telling Coffey that he was afraid to fly, according to the sentencing memo. That’s when he took a bottle of alcohol from his bag and gave it to her to help her relax, according to a witness statement in the note.
“He then tapped her on the leg and reached out his hand for her to shake,” the memo states. “He even hugged her around the waist while they watched a movie during the flight.”
The victim eventually claimed that Coffey forced his fingers inside her vagina and forced her to perform oral sex.
The sentencing memo also noted that she was on the plane with her brother, according to the ruling. However, he was sitting several rows in front of her, which was not open to the public. A 14-year-old boy was sitting between two strangers.
“Ryan Coffey’s actions were abhorrent,” FBI San Diego Acting Special Agent in Charge TJ Holland said in a statement in August. “The FBI, along with our dedicated law enforcement partners, remains committed to leveraging all available tools to pursue evidence and bring those who commit crimes against children to justice.”
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