Woman gropes TSA screener
Woman Accused of Groping Airport Screener
1 hour, 18 minutes ago
A 62-year-old woman who was upset about being searched at an airport shoved a security screener and then grabbed her breasts, federal prosecutors said. The woman said she reacted in self-defense to "an absolute invasion of my body."
A jury began hearing evidence Monday in the trial of Phyllis Dintenfass, who was charged with assault of a federal employee. If convicted, the retired technology school teacher could face a year in prison and $100,000 in fines.
Transportation Security Administration screening supervisor Anita Gostisha testified Monday that she saw Dintenfass activate the metal detectors at the Outagamie County Regional Airport in Appleton in September 2004.
Gostisha said she took the woman to another area, where she screened Dintenfass using a handheld wand. Gostisha, a screening supervisor for three years, said she was following protocol when she performed a "limited pat-down search."
Gostisha said she was using the back of her hands to search the area underneath Dintenfass' breasts when the woman lashed out at her.
"She said `How would you like it if I did that to you?' and slammed me against the wall," Gostisha testified. "She came at me and grabbed my breasts and squeezed them with firm pressure."
Dintenfass testified that she felt it was an invasive search, and that she was acting in self-defense.
"I said, 'What are you doing? No one's done that to me before,'" Dintenfass said. "And she kept going for what felt like an interminably long time. It seemed to go on and on in my mind."
Dintenfass denied that she shoved Gostisha, but admitted putting her hands on the agent's breasts.
"I was mortified that I had done that," she said. "I was reacting to what felt like an absolute invasion of my body."
The agent may have stepped back in response to the move, which would have caused her to bump into a partition, Dintenfass said.
The jury was expected to begin deliberations Wednesday.