A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually assaulting a teenager during an Alaska Airlines flight. Trayton Ballot, 29, was convicted last year for the attack on a 17-year-old girl on the overnight journey from Anchorage to Seattle on January 15.
The victim, who was seated in the window seat next to Ballot towards the rear of the plane, said she felt 'trapped in a small place where I could not defend myself.' She added that Ballot's actions were 'predatory, attacking me while I was asleep.'
According to court records, Ballot rubbed the teen's inner thigh repeatedly. After the victim removed his hand twice, he persisted a third time. She then lowered her tray table and placed a stuffed animal on her lap to block him. Ballot attempted to move his hand under the armrest, but the victim pressed down on the toy, stopping the assault.
The girl alerted her mother, who was sitting behind her, by typing a message on her phone. Flight attendants moved her to another seat, and Ballot was arrested upon landing in Seattle. Following a two-day trial, the jury deliberated for just one hour before finding him guilty.
Prosecutors noted that 'sexual assaults on airplanes are a distressingly prevalent risk' and described planes as 'uniquely vulnerable environments' where passengers have limited space and options to escape unwanted contact. Ballot will also serve 10 years of supervised release after his prison term.
