The man faces up to three years in federal prison, according to officials.
DALLAS — A Tulsa man who repeatedly groped a woman on a Southwest Airlines flight to Dallas was convicted this week of abusive sexual contact, federal officials announced.
William McKelvy, 65, groped a woman sitting next to him on an April 2023 flight from Tulsa to Dallas on four separate occasions, federal officials say.
After the second instance, the woman pushed him away and told him to keep his hands to himself, but McKelvy continued, officials said.
The woman testified during McKelvy’s trial that she felt “trapped” in her seat until she eventually yelled, confronting him, according to a press release.
After that, other passengers on the plane intervened, with one flagging down a flight attendant who had McKelvy moved to the back of the plane for the rest of the flight and arranged for police to meet him after it landed at Dallas Love Field, the press release stated.
McKelvy admitted to the officers that he’d vaped on the plane but said only that he’d “flirted” with a woman on the flight when asked about any confrontations with fellow passengers, officials said.
McKelvy claimed that he didn’t remember the incident after consuming alcohol and THC gummies before the flight during his trial, according to officials.
He faces up to three years in federal prison and is set to be sentenced Sept. 8 before U.S. Chief District Judge David C. Godbey.
“Sexual assault aboard an aircraft is a federal crime investigated by the FBI. It is because of fellow passengers and the flight crew that the defendant was detained and charged for assaulting the victim multiple times,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “The public can rest assured that the FBI will thoroughly investigate any federal crime committed aboard an aircraft. We encourage everyone to be air aware and ask that victims or witnesses report an incident to the flight crew immediately.”