Man sentenced to 8 months in prison for touching teenager on Paris-Seattle flight, federal government says

A Seattle man was sentenced to eight months in prison for groping a teenage girl on a flight from Paris to Washington state in 2022, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Milan Edward Jurkovic, 36, was convicted in December of abusive sexual contact following a three-day jury trial, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.

Court documents show Jurkovic had pleaded not guilty.

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik said the assault “should not have happened,” prosecutors said.

“The flight home should have been nothing less than the end of a joyful journey and instead she is the victim of a crime,” Lasnik said of the girl.

Jurkovic assaulted the girl on July 3, 2022, on an Air France flight from Paris to Seattle, prosecutors said. The teen was traveling with a school group at the time, U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said in the release.

“Stuck in an airplane cabin, these assaults are particularly traumatic for vulnerable young people who trust the adults around them to behave appropriately,” Gorman said. “In this case, the accused groped a teenager traveling with a school group. She courageously spoke up. As I noted a year ago, we have a zero-tolerance policy regarding these sexual assaults on airplanes. Predators will be prosecuted.

Jurkovic's attorney listed in court records could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

The teenage victim, who sat next to Jurkovic for hours on the flight, was with a school group from Western Washington returning from an overseas school trip, prosecutors said.

About three hours into the flight, Jurkovic reached under a blanket, prosecutors said, and began groping the victim's thigh.

“The victim was shocked and frozen in fear,” prosecutors said. Jurkovic continued to rub her thigh for “an extended period of time” and touched her inner thigh, according to prosecutors.

The young girl asked for help from a classmate and then her chaperone. The escort swapped places with her for the remainder of the flight, prosecutors said.

Seattle Port Police greeted the flight as it landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, prosecutors said, and law enforcement questioned the girl.

Jurkovic told inconsistent stories to different people, prosecutors said.

“He told the escort he rubbed his leg due to poor circulation, suggesting he inadvertently touched the victim,” according to prosecutors. He later told police he hadn't hurt anyone and volunteered that he had an itch on his leg, prosecutors said.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Seattle Port Police, authorities said.