Man charged after allegedly groping young girl on flight

A YOUNG girl who was flying unaccompanied was allegedly groped by a male passenger during a horror flight.

The girl was allegedly sexually abused on an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, to Portland, Oregon. Picture: Oliver Holzbauer

THE first anyone knew the young girl was in trouble was when a flight attendant came by with the drinks tray and noticed a single tear falling down her face.

The 13-year-old girl had boarded the American Airlines flight at Dallas-Fort Worth airport after visiting her father in Texas, and was on her way back home to Portland, Oregon.

As she was travelling alone, the girl’s parents paid extra for American Airlines’ “unaccompanied minor service”, which includes chaperoning children on and off the aircraft.

The girl was seated by a window in row 21.

Although the flight was half empty, a man named Chad Cameron Camp, 26, chose to sit right next to the girl, in seat 21-B, the Federal Bureau of Investigations said in a statement.

Flight crew offered to find the man another seat as there were plenty around.

“No, I’m fine,” he replied, according to complaint documents.

What happened next has been described as “30 minutes of hell” for the young solo traveller.

The alleged incident happened on an American Airlines flight. Picture: AP

The accused, Chad Cameron Camp, 26. Picture: Portland Police

The alleged ordeal began when Camp tried to make small talk with the girl and started to touch her arm and shoulder while he apparently read a magazine.

“Each time he turned the page he used his elbow to brush up against the victim’s shoulder and upper arm area,” the complaint read, according to the Washington Post.

“The victim attempted to move away from Camp’s physical contact, and each time she withdrew, he would laugh.

“After finishing with the magazine, Camp leaned toward the victim to place the magazine in the seat pocket in front of the victim. Camp instead dropped the magazine on the victim’s shoes.”

Later, as he pretended to look out the window, Camp allegedly leaned across the girl and held his face just centimetres away from hers.

He offered to share his headphones with the girl and she declined, which prompted him to throw the headphones in her lap, the complaint continued.

He allegedly also repeatedly placed his hand on the girl’s knee and upper thigh, and when the girl asked him what he was doing, Camp laughed and did it again.

“She was frightened and trapped,” the complaint stated.

A lawyer for the child’s family, Brent Goodfellow, said Camp touched the girl 15 times before a flight attendant serving drinks saw his hand in the girl’s crotch.

The flight attendant saw “a single tear coming down the victim’s cheek,” according to the complaint.

Camp was ordered to move into another seat for the rest of the flight.

Once the flight landed at Portland, the girl was whisked from the plane and taken to her stepfather. She then gave her statement to authorities.

Camp, of Gresham, Oregon, was detained by Portland authorities and then arrested by FBI agents. He has been charged with abusive sexual contact and has entered a plea of not guilty.

The young girl’s horrible experience continued when she saw Camp again at the airport terminal at Portland, her lawyer said. Picture: AP/Susan Walsh/file

The young girl’s trauma allegedly continued at the airport when she happened to walk past Camp — who was being detained — as she made her way to the bathroom.

Goodfellow said that unexpected encounter was “absolutely traumatising” for the girl, who returned to her stepfather “frightened and crying”.

In a statement, American Airlines said they were co-operating with authorities.

“We take these matters very seriously and have co-operated fully and immediately with law enforcement officials in their investigation of the suspect,” airline spokesman Ross Feinstein said in a statement, Fox News reported.

“Due to the pending criminal case against the suspect, we are referring all questions to law enforcement.”

But Mr Goodfellow has taken aim at the airline for failing to protect the young girl and for “extorting” families through their unaccompanied minor service charge.

American Airline recently began requiring parents to pay $150 ($AU200) extra each way for unaccompanied minors ages 12 to 14 to fly. Before then, only those aged four to 11 years were required to use the service.

The fee ensured “your child is boarded onto the aircraft, introduced to the flight attendant, chaperoned during connections and released to the appropriate person at their destination,” according to American Airlines’ website.

Goodfellow said the girl’s family planned to file a civil suit against the airline. He said Camp should never have been allowed to remain seated next to the girl when there were plenty of other seats available.

“That’s a big red flag,” Mr Goodfellow told the Washington Post. “Anybody who has ever flown more than a couple of hours and knows that if there is any empty seat that is not the middle seat, of course they are going to move.”

He also questioned why it took so long for flight crew to realise the girl was allegedly being sexually abused.

“If I have my tray table down or my seat back two inches during the improper time, those guys are going to be on me immediately,” Mr Goodfellow said.

“This girl got abused for 30 minutes and no one was to be found.”

Mr Goodfellow said the girl was struggling to cope after the terrifying experience.

“She is already saying she doesn’t want to be on an aeroplane ever again,” he told KOIN.

“I sat with the family for about three hours … she didn’t want to be touched by her mum. Every time she went to give her kind of a loving touch she would jump.”