Myrtle Beach Tourist Who Sexually Assaulted Woman During Flight Sentenced

An Indian national man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison on Thursday, June 17, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman aboard a flight traveling from Chicago to Myrtle Beach in 2019, prosecutors confirmed.

The accused, 29-year-old Siva K. Durbesula, from India, was reportedly slapped with a two-year prison sentence on June 17 by Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

In addition to the two-year prison sentence, Reidinger also ordered Durbesula to serve another 10 years of supervised release and to pay a $5,000 assessment fee, reported Fox News.

On June 23, 2019, Durbesula reportedly boarded a flight from Chicago O’Hare International Airport bound for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. During the journey, Durbesula was accused of sexually assaulting a 22-year-old female passenger who was seated next to him.

During the trial, the victim said that Durbesula repeatedly pulled her towards him and groped her several times mid-flight. Following the assault, flight crew moved Durbesula away from the victim, but Durbesula reportedly asked to return to his previous seat so he could speak to the victim again, according to the court documents.

Another woman also offered her account of Durbesula's sexual misconduct during the trial. She claimed that on March 21, 2019, Durbesula touched her inappropriately while she was traveling on a subway train in New York City. The woman recorded Durbesula exiting the train after the assault and admitted the video as evidence in the trial, reported WYFF.

Just three months after this incident, with charges related to the subway incident still pending against him, Durbesula reportedly assaulted the woman aboard the flight from Illinois to South Carolina.

In November last year, a federal jury in Asheville convicted Durbesula of abusive sexual contact aboard the airplane.

While announcing the sentence, Judge Reidinger handed Durbesula the statutory maximum prison term for the offense, noting that his repeated sexual misconduct over a short period of time required the maximum statutory punishment to promote respect for the law, the Department of Justice reported.

Durbesula, who is currently in federal custody, will be transferred to the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.