A former Delta Air Lines mechanic has been sentenced to six months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young woman who was traveling back home after just attending a Taylor Swift concert.
At the time of the sexual assault on March 20, 2023, Brick was still employed by Delta and was traveling on a free ticket when he took advantage of the 23-year-old nervous flyer who had taken anti-anxiety medication to help her sleep during the flight from Phoenix to Seattle.
In a plea agreement that Brick, 53, reached with prosecutors in March, he admitted to taking the hand of the victim and placing it in his crotch for several minutes before placing his hand underneath her shirt and groping her bare breasts.
Brick was sitting in the middle seat and had the victim hemmed in by the window while he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.
After groping her breasts, the victim woke up but was so frozen in shock that she was unable to react even when Brick tapped her in the face to check whether she was sleeping or not.
When she didn’t react, Brick reached towards her waistband in an attempt to thrust his hand down her trousers.
At this point, the victim mustered up the courage to tell Brick ‘no’ before turning her body away from him in an attempt to escape his unwanted advances. Despite this, however, Brick attempted to get his hands down the victim’s pants on two more occasions.
Assistant United States Attorney Grace Zoller said the assault was “intentional, methodical, and prolonged… it took place over many minutes. He knew she was not consenting and when he was caught, he blamed her.”
Brick was only stopped when a witness sitting behind the victim reported the matter to the flight attendants, but according to the US Attorney’s Office, the crew failed to call law enforcement, and Brick was quickly ushered off the plane after landing in Seattle because he was an employee of the airline.
After the victim reported the matter to the flight attendants, Brick claimed he had ‘accidentally’ touched the woman, and it was more than 15 minutes before the flight attendants eventually decided to move him to another seat.
The victim has filed a lawsuit against Delta, alleging that the airline has failed to adequately train its employees to deal with reports of sexual assault.
Her attorney says she is “understandably traumatized” and is currently undergoing counselling.
In March, Delta said in a statement that it “has zero tolerance for unlawful conduct and will work with law enforcement entities to that end.”
