SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former California Highway Patrol captain has been indicted by a federal grand jury after he was accused of slapping a male flight attendant’s buttocks during a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, federal prosecutors said.
It was the second time in recent weeks that allegations of sexual abuse during flights surfaced. The FBI warns the problem is growing, especially on long, overnight trips.
Dennis Wally Woodbury, 49, of Azusa, California, was indicted Thursday on one count of abusive sexual contact. Woodbury had been drinking heavily and slapped the flight attendant as he walked passed him while collecting meal trays during an April 13 flight on JetBlue Airways from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles International Airport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors said Woodbury began acting inappropriately soon after boarding the plane and that before the plane left the gate, he showed another male flight attendant a photo of a dog that had pornographic images in the background and told him he should join him on a cruise. Later on the flight, Woodbury went to the plane’s front galley and pulled down his pants, exposing his genitals to the flight attendant, according to court documents.
Soon afterward, Woodbury asked the same flight attendant for wine and after the crew member told him he could only have a nonalcoholic drink, Woodbury again pulled down his pants and exposed himself, prosecutors said.
Woodbury, who was arrested after the plane landed in Los Angeles, made his initial federal court appearance last month and is free on $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 12.
A phone listed for Woodbury was disconnected. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Earlier this week, lawyers for a Northern California woman announced a lawsuit against American Airlines after she said she was sexually assaulted in 2024 on an overnight flight from San Francisco to Dallas. The man was charged in March by federal officials for the sexual assault of another female passenger on a flight in 2023, and the airline was aware of that case, according to the lawsuit by the Northern California woman. He also had several other similar complaints against him, according to the lawsuit.
In 2023, the FBI investigated 96 cases of alleged sexual assaults aboard U.S. flights, including unwanted touching, the agency said. The attacks generally occur on long-haul flights when the cabin is dark, and often those they prey on are in middle or window seats, sleeping, and covered with a blanket or jacket, the FBI said. Passengers who have reported such crimes often say they woke up to find their seatmate’s hands inside their clothing.
It is particularly important that the crime be reported immediately because crime aboard an aircraft is more difficult to investigate once days, or even hours, have passed, the agency said.
