A judge sentenced James Benecke to one year in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to abusive sexual contact on an aircraft, 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.“Benecke deliberately and methodically escalated his behavior during the course of these flights,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
“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.
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.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.
She “later told investigators, she “normally would have established the fact that th act made uncomfortable, however was half asleep and not conscious enough to react,” the sentencing memo says.
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