A former U.S. Army officer will serve prison time after he was convicted of groping a 16-year-old — and then an 18-year-old — on separate Alaska Airlines flights to Seattle last year, federal prosecutors said.
James Benecke, 42, was a chief warrant officer stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage when he sexually assaulted the teen in April 2023 and then the woman two months later, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
He was dishonorably discharged from the Army following the assaults, according to his legal counsel.
“Benecke deliberately and methodically escalated his behavior during the course of these flights,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
A judge sentenced Benecke to one year in federal prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to abusive sexual contact while on board an aircraft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
His court-appointed public defender, Jesse Cantor, didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on July 19.
“Preying on teenagers in the confined space of an aircraft is traumatizing, and is happening far too often,” U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said in a statement. “Those convicted of this crime are required to register as a sex offender. Some have been banned from certain airlines.”
Ahead of sentencing, Cantor argued a sentence of five years of probation and six months of house arrest would have been “sufficient” for Benecke instead of prison.
“Aside from the death penalty, imprisonment is the ultimate punishment,” Cantor wrote in a sentencing memo.
Cantor said “alcoholism and intoxication,” while not an excuse, “are clearly what caused Mr. Benecke’s offense conduct,” and that Benecke has already faced “significant adverse consequences,” including losing his military career and having to register as a sex offender.
The assaults
On April 12, 2023, Benecke sexually assaulted the 16-year-old who was traveling with her classmates on a red-eye Alaska Airlines flight that took off from Anchorage, according to prosecutors.
As she was nearly asleep in the middle seat, Benecke started touching her thigh while sitting next to her, prosecutors wrote in the government’s sentencing memo.
She “later told investigators, she “normally would have established the fact that th(is) act made (her) uncomfortable, however (she) was half asleep and not conscious enough to react,” the sentencing memo says.
After she turned away from Benecke, she later awoke to him “touching her buttocks,” according to prosecutors.
The teen then grabbed his wrist and put his hand in his lap, the sentencing memo says.
After telling her parents what happened, the teen reported Benecke to police, according to prosecutors.
Two months later, on another Alaska Airlines flight that left Dallas-Fort Worth, Benecke groped an 18-year-old woman traveling with her boyfriend — resulting in her and her boyfriend reporting him to flight attendants, the sentencing memo says.
“Although Mr. Benecke appeared to be asleep, (she) noticed that (he) would begin touching her when her boyfriend looked out the window, and would stop whenever her boyfriend looked back, apparently timing this touching to avoid detection,” prosecutors wrote.
He touched her “buttocks and inner thigh,” according to prosecutors.
The next month, Benecke was arrested at his duty station in Alaska, prosecutors said.
Alaska Airlines didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment on July 19.
“Benecke’s actions diminished their sense of personal safety, and turned what should have been joyous, meaningful trips — one to a school sporting competition, and one returning home from college orientation — into sources of trauma,” prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memo.
In the Seattle area, reports of sexual assaults on planes have been increasing in recent years, “likely in part because of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s role as an air travel hub,” according to prosecutors.
The FBI investigates crimes, including sexual misconduct, on flights.
The agency advises reporting crimes to “the flight crew, airport authority police, and the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov.”