Man was groped by ‘creep’ passenger on flight from Sacramento, federal officials say

A California man faces federal charges after he allegedly sexually assaulted a male passenger on a flight from Sacramento to Denver, officials say.

Robert Earl Glasper III, from Oakland, was arrested Oct. 25 after his flight touched down at the Denver International Airport, according to a probable cause affidavit.

After Glasper and the passenger he was seated next to exchanged pleasantries before their flight, the man informed Glasper he was sitting on his seat belt, according to court documents. When the man partially stood up to let Glasper retrieve his own seat belt, Glasper grabbed the left side of the victim’s butt, an FBI agent said in the affidavit.

He said he was “reluctant” to call attention to Glasper’s actions, but further abuse happened after the flight departed. Glasper “repeatedly put his hand on top of” the man’s leg and applied slight pressure with his fingers, court records show. He also allegedly made multiple attempts to hold the man’s hand.

Later, Glasper asked the man multiple times for him to “jerk him off,” court documents state. The victim attempted to ignore the man.

When Glasper later left to use the bathroom, he wrote in a text message to show the woman seated on the other side of Glasper, “Ummm this guy is really handsy and a creep,” according to the affidavit. The woman nodded in agreement.

Glasper returned to his seat and again tried to touch the man’s hand and leg, the affidavit states. He began masturbating in his seat, telling the victim, “look at this,” according to court records. The victim tried to look away but later saw Glasper wipe his hands in between seats, he said in a statement to an FBI official.

A witness seated across the aisle from Glasper saw the man “deeply uncomfortable” and witnessed Glasper masturbating next to him, according to court documents. Glasper went to the bathroom a second time, and the witness asked the victim if he was OK.

“I don’t think so,” replied the male victim, according to the affidavit. The witness called a flight attendant, who found new seats for both of them.

Police were notified when the flight landed that “a sexual assault had occurred on the airplane,” according to the affidavit. An FBI agent interviewed the victim, witness and Glasper while at the Denver airport.

Glasper, who the victim said appeared to be “under the influence,” told an FBI special agent “the incident was consensual.”

Glasper faces the following charges: sexual contact without permission within special aircraft jurisdiction; lewd, indecent, obscene acts within special aircraft jurisdiction; and simple assault within special aircraft jurisdiction.

Editor’s note: The Robert Glasper who was arrested is not the Grammy-award-winning musician of the same name.

This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 2:40 PM with the headline "Man was groped by ‘creep’ passenger on flight from Sacramento, federal officials say."