Teen records Texas man groping her on flight, feds say. Now he’s going to prison
A 15-year-old girl recorded a Texas man groping her on a flight last year, federal officials said.
Now Vincent Harry Kopacek, 76, of Fredericksburg, is going to prison for 20 months on a charge of abusive sexual contact, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana said in a news release.
Kopacek was sentenced on Wednesday, June 1, after pleading guilty to the charge in February, the release states.
Prosecutors said a 15-year-old girl recorded Kopacek sexually assaulting her on an Allegiant Airlines flight from Austin, Texas, to Bozeman, Montana, on July 8, 2021, according to the criminal complaint.
His attorney, Chuck Watson, told McClatchy News that he did not have a comment regarding his 20-month sentence.
But he said Kopacek did not have a criminal history before his conviction.
“He is in poor health and at the time of the offense, he was on several medications, including hydrocodone,” Watson said in an email. “Hopefully the young woman accepts my client’s apology and recovers fully from this unfortunate situation.”
The teen told investigators she was sitting in the seat directly ahead of Kopacek with her mother and sister.
Before the plane took off, she said Kopacek reached around her seat and touched her body, prosecutors said in court documents.
He’s accused of then touching the teen multiple times throughout the flight, including grabbing and squeezing her arm and touching her chest and breasts. He also tried to touch near her waistline, prosecutors said.
The teen said she got up several times to use the bathroom, all while Kopacek appeared to be asleep, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said no one was seated next to the man during the flight.
The girl recorded 20 videos of Kopacek touching her and took photos of him with her phone, according to documents.
In addition to his 20-month sentence, Kopacek was also ordered to five years of supervised release and to pay $363 in restitution.
“Vince cannot explain his decisions and actions on that flight. It (is) the opinion of his friends and family, as well as the undersigned, that Vince is as shocked as anyone that he committed this act,” his attorney wrote in his sentencing memorandum.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Teen records Texas man groping her on flight, feds say. Now he’s going to prison."
