- A man assaulted a 13-year-old girl while other passengers slept on a red-eye Delta flight, federal prosecutors say.
- The girl said he touched her inappropriately during the flight from Los Angeles to Orlando.
A man has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of assaulting a 13-year-old girl on a red-eye Delta flight after the lights were dimmed and other passengers fell asleep in June 2022.
A federal jury found Brian Patrick Durning, of Altadena, California, guilty of assault of a minor on an aircraft and two counts of simple assault in June this year. He was sentenced in late September.
The girl was separated from her family, who were two rows away, and was seated next to Durning, then 51, on the flight from Los Angeles to Orlando, Florida, instead, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by federal prosecutors.
The girl said that Durning began acting "weird" when the lights were dimmed on the flight, and touched her inappropriately, per the prosecutors' filings, which cite a transcript of an interview with the girl.
The girl's testimony was sealed, but was partially unsealed for "the limited purpose of providing access to the United States Attorney's Office," per the sentencing memorandum.
While Durning inappropriately touched her, he was "rubbing himself by his zipper," which was undone, the girl said.
Durning kept looking around the plane to make sure other passengers were asleep, and would stop touching her if they woke up, the girl said, as described in the sentencing memorandum.
She said that Durning called her "honey boo," told her that he would take her to Texas, and told her: "You are never going to see your family again."
The girl did not call out to her mom at the time because she has selective mutism, which makes her "particularly vulnerable," the prosecutors wrote.
The girl said that after Durning assaulted her she had a panic attack, including crying, shaking, and being unable to speak, per the sentencing memorandum.
The passenger seated at the girl's other side said in a testimony that she saw Durning pull his hand from inside the girl's thigh, and told an FBI agent that she saw the girl crying and shaking.
She said that she switched seats with the girl and summoned the flight attendants. Durning also attempted to grope her own breasts, the passenger said.
Durning was arrested when the flight landed. He repeatedly claimed that he took Ambien and fell asleep on the plane, but later abandoned this claim.
"We have no tolerance for unlawful conduct," a Delta spokesperson told Insider.
Mary Tramontin, a clinical psychologist called as an expert for the government, said Durning's behavior on board was due "directly to his acute alcohol intoxication."
Durning had previously been arrested twice for driving under the influence and once for disorderly conduct based on his level of intoxication.
The girl experienced long-term consequences of the assault including nightmares, difficulty in school, and "significant mental and emotional trauma," the prosecutors said in the sentencing memorandum.
"Mr. Durning has accepted responsibility for his inappropriate actions which included becoming intoxicated on a plane and acting inappropriately towards several passengers," including the girl, his attorney Jeremy Lasnetski at Lasnetski Gihon Law wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in September.
Durning had "always denied" touching the girl in a sexual manner, Lasnetski wrote.
"Mr. Durning is truly sorry for his actions and how they have negatively impacted" the girl, Lasnetski added.
Durning was "amenable to treatment for his significant issues that have arisen from the excessive use of alcohol," Lasnetski added.
US District Judge Wendy W. Berger in late September sentenced Durning to five years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
"After diligently listening to all of the facts and evidence, a jury of Mr. Durning's peers found him not guilty of Abusive Sexual Contact," Lasnetski told Insider in an email.
"He was convicted and sentenced on one count of assault which caused temporary emotional distress. Therefore, he was acquitted of the only count that alleged sexual contact." Lasnetski noted that Durning was sentenced to 46 months above the top range of the federal guidelines.