A Catholic priest who groped a sleeping woman on a flight from Philadelphia to LA will spend six months in federal prison, the Justice Department said Monday.
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Marcelo De Jesumaria, 46, was found guilty in May by a U.S. District Court jury of touching the victim’s breast, inner thigh and groin during an overnight cross-country flight. When his grip relaxed, she got up to bathroom and used the call button to report that De Jesumaria had been touching her inappropriately. “Jesumaria has lost his career, his position of esteem in the community, and he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life”, Cron wrote in court records.
He had been placed in the seat beside the woman after lying to flight attendants that she was his wife, the Associated Press reported.
Steven Cron, Jesumaria’s defence attorney, said the convicted priest did not deserve to be sent to prison because he is seeking therapy and understands how serious his actions are.
Jesumaria told authorities that he enjoyed “cozy flights” with women and that he intentionally switched his seat to be next to his victim. “He acknowledged that his behavior was wrong”.
De Jesumaria reportedly testified that he thought what he did was consensual because she didn’t stop him and he considered her silence – she was actually asleep – as “coyness”, federal officials said.
In a statement, the diocese slammed Jesumaria’s actions as “sinful and unlawful”.
The woman said in court Monday that she’s now fearful and anxious, and that she’s constantly reminded of the experience, partly because she regularly flies for work, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors say the priest interpreted the woman he groped as “coy” even though she was actually asleep.
De Jesumaria was removed from the ministry last November when the allegations against him surfaced.
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Flight attendants said she was shaking and emotional when she told them what happened. She was then moved to another seat, and Jesumaria was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation upon landing at Los Angeles. “We are deeply regretful of any harm that may have occurred as a result of his actions”.
