All suspects are guilty, period. Otherwise they wouldn't be suspects, would they?

Every single one of us, Lnl and Rhino included, would expect and demand that a conviction, forever changing our lives for the worse, be based upon more than just the claims of our accuser. Obviously, I wasn't at the trial. But there isn't a whole lot in the news about this aside from her accusations. Isn't it reasonable to assume that a young girl woke up with stranger's hand in her lap and blew it out of proportion? That seems much more reasonable than some sober guy molesting a young girl in plain sight in the back of a crowded airplane. That's the story I'm not buying, Rhino.

That might be reasonable to assume, if that had been where is hand was. My understanding is that is hand was not in her lap, but underneath her. "On the October 2013 Delta Airlines flight, the teenager awoke from a nap and felt Pascal's hand under her, gripping her buttocks, she said, according to court documents." Even if your hand flops around all over the place while you sleep, it's not going to accidentally go from your lap, down between you and the person next to you, then inadvertently slide under the other passenger, ending up between her butt and her bottom seat seat cushion.

Correct. There isn’t a whole lot in this article aside from the victim’s accusations and the some words spoken by the defense attorney and the person found guilty.

Trying to base a decision off of a news report is guessing at best. No one knows the facts behind this case other than the defense and prosecuting attorneys, judge, and the person found guilty. All the facts were not presented in this news article as they never are. I base my opinion on my experiences within the criminal justice/court systems.

To file charges against a person, a case has to clear the hurdle of the investigating law enforcement officer(s), then, the assigned detective(s), their boss, the assigned prosecuting district attorney and his/her boss also. It takes so much to work a case through this process that many cases never progress to even make it before a judge, let alone a trial. Folks in this process are always looking to see if there is any merit to the case going forward or stopped in each step of the process. Thus, I am quite sure there is far more evidence in this conviction than we will ever know. Victims statements alone do not determine if a case is filed let alone goes to trial.

As a side note: If you have dealt with molestation cases, this one truly does not fit a “first time” incident with a person in this age group. Since the person was found guilty, this has the strong possibility of not being a first time incident of this nature (charged or discovered at least). Something to think about.

She's sitting in the window seat, he's in the middle seat. It's not so hard to imagine that she may have been sleeping up against the window, and thus leaving some of her seat open. His hand may have flopped in to the open seat, and when she moved, could have easily sat on the guys hand. The reason this guy is going to prison, is the fact he said he raised the armrest. Had he not done that, his defense would have held. However, the fact that he had no prior history to this, makes me side with the accidental contact explanation. The guy has a teenage daughter himself.

In a case like this, the girl has strong motivation to lie, because if he is found guilty, she is now going to be a millionaire.

...and if it REALLY happened and she's NOT lying, she's somewhat damaged at a young age. Oh, btw, HE also has a strong motivation to lie to save HIS butt.

Just curious about the dudes defending a fellow pilot....do you have children, more importantly, young daughters?
The argument that he has a daughter himself is bs as my daughter was sexually harrassed (including inappropriate touching) by a man old enough to be her father who had TWO daughters around my daughter's age. So much for that dumb theory.....
(this was by a "man" her father knows....she was also recently harrassed via texts by another "man" her father knows through work. To say molesters are sick is an understatement, they just can't control themselves no matter the circumstances).

I'm not defending molesters, I'm saying I could possibly see this scenario as being an accident. Furthermore, I don't think the airline should have to pay out big money either because of this incident. I highly, highly doubt this incident would have gone to court if there wasn't a massive financial incentive to do so.

Don't worry though, the prison code states this pilot is going to get 100 fold for what he's in there for.

Sounds like a lot of defending of the pilot but accusing the girl of looking for a payday. I'm going to hold my tongue and not say what I REALLY think about why some are so vehemently defending him.

I'm defending the airline.

And I'm defending the concept of defense. To be convicted of anything, let alone something so serious, based only off of one person's testimony is rediculous. And that's even assuming that person didn't have a multimillion dollar built in reason to lie and go for some DEEP pockets.

A guilty until proven innocent system, even if its supposedly in the name of saving the children or whatever, is 100% un-American.