Serial harasser banned from American Airlines for allegedly groping younger lady aboard flight

A 55-year-old man allegedly groped a 22-year-old woman aboard an American Airlines flight from Chicago to Seattle — the third time the Dallas resident has been accused of sexually harassing a fellow traveler mid-flight.

Cherian Abraham was arrested Monday on one count of abusive sexual contact, which carries up to two years in federal prison. He does not yet have an attorney listed in court records, and was unable to be reached for comment. Reached by phone on Tuesday, Abraham’s wife declined to comment to The Independent, hanging up without providing further details of her husband’s situation.

In an email, an American Airlines spokesperson said Abraham is no longer allowed to fly with the carrier.

“The safety of our customers and team members is our highest priority,” they said. “We take this matter very seriously and are working closely with law enforcement on its investigation.”

American Airlines flight 2076 left Chicago for SeaTac at 8:27 p.m. on March 18, a four-hour-and-40-minute trip, according to a complaint filed Monday in Seattle federal court. About 2.5 hours after takeoff, Abraham, who was sitting in seat 20A, a window, the passenger in the middle seat says he “put his finger on [her] breast, overtop [sic] of her clothing, and continued to make a rubbing motion with his finger,” the complaint states.

“Abraham did so under the guise of trying to reach his baggage and [the woman] thought to herself that perhaps this physical touching was accidental,” according to the document.

About five minutes later, as Abraham’s seatmate was watching an in-flight movie, she “observed Abraham’s hand moving underneath her arm and continuing upward toward her breast,” the complaint goes on. It says the motion of Abraham’s hand “suggested to her that he was attempting to locate her nipple,” going for roughly 20 seconds until the woman shot a look at Abraham, who quickly pulled his hand away.

A few minutes after that, the woman once again felt Abraham’s finger poke her, the complaint continues. This time, according to the complaint, the woman addressed Abraham directly, saying, “Why the f**k are you touching me?”

“Abraham provided no verbal response to her question,” the complaint states. “Abraham then reached down underneath the seat in front of him to grab what appeared to be a black backpack and proceeded to place it on his lap. [The woman] got out of her seat and proceeded to locate a flight attendant to report the incident.”

The flight attendant moved the woman to a different seat, the complaint says, describing her state of mind as “sad, hurt, and unsafe.” She told the flight attendant that Abraham “had grabbed her ‘ti***es’ with his hands,” and that “the touching was not accidental,” according to the complaint.

Upon landing, investigators interviewed Abraham, who at first denied touching the woman in the next seat, the complaint contends. However, when the investigators informed Abraham that a witness had observed the whole thing, he said he “may have touched [the woman] accidentally while lifting his backpack from underneath the seat,” the complaint says.

Abraham told investigators that the woman told him to stop touching her, which “confused” him, according to the complaint. He claimed he had touched her shoulder when she got up to move, in a purported attempt “to clarify what she meant.”

“Abraham reported never having been previously accused of anything similar,” the complaint states.

But, according to the complaint, the FBI, which has jurisdiction over in-flight crimes, dug up two other instances in which Abraham was accused of the same behavior while flying.

On April 24, 2024, another woman, identified in the complaint as “Victim 2,” submitted an online incident report to American Airlines Customer Relations, saying she had been “violated” by Abraham aboard a flight.

“Victim 2 reported Abraham having rubbed his arm against her side several times,” the complaint states. “Victim 2 initially thought that maybe this unwanted touching was accidental. Shortly after, Abraham placed his hand in between Victim 2’s legs. Victim 2 yelled at him to stop. As a response to Victim 2 yelling at him to stop, Abraham threw his hands up, as if confused.”

Victim 2 said she was “stunned” by what had happened, and that she tried to “discreetly notify a flight attendant,” but was unsuccessful and remained seated next to Abraham for the rest of the trip.

A third woman also said she had been molested by Abraham, this time on October 9, 2023, according to the complaint. It says she was sitting in an aisle seat when Abraham, who was sitting by the window, reached across the empty middle seat and “began touching her seatbelt,” the woman, who is identified in the complaint as “Victim 3,” told Minneapolis Airport Police.

“Abraham then touched her left leg and or thigh with an open hand approximately three times,” the complaint states. “Victim 3 looked at Abraham and told him to stop. Victim 3 got up and proceeded to locate a flight attendant and reported the incident.”

The woman, who later declined to press charges, was moved to a different seat for the remainder of the flight, according to the complaint.

“When interviewed by Minneapolis Airport Police Department, Abraham denied having such physical contact with Victim 3,” the complaint concludes.

There have been 311 reports of “unruly passengers” so far in 2025, according to the FAA. In 2024, the agency received 2,102 reports of badly behaved airline passengers, a slight increase over 2,076 such reports a year earlier. Things reached an all-time high in 2021, with 5,973 unruly passenger reports being filed.

If convicted, Abraham faces up to two years in prison.

Source: independent.co.uk