A 48-year-old father of four has been convicted of abusive sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl who was sitting in front of him on a JetBlue flight to Boston. Prosecutors said the teen recorded video of what was happening, and a federal jury convicted him on October 16.
Jonathan Alan Lefman, from Newton, Massachusetts, was traveling with his wife and four children from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Boston on August 30, 2024. According to prosecutors, he reached through the gap between the back and bottom of the seat in front of him and touched the teenager sitting there without her permission, several times during the flight and again while passengers waited to get off in Boston. According to the New York Post, his 16-year-old son was sitting next to him.
The abuse was caught on video
The girl saw Lefman’s reflection leaning between the seats in the seatback monitor in front of her, prosecutors said. She recorded a video of his fingers coming through her seat, and later filmed him as he left the aircraft.
Once passengers got off the plane, an adult female relative, who had been sitting in another row, reported Lefman to a JetBlue supervisor and confronted him, showing him the video. When he was indicted, prosecutors released stills from the footage.
NBC Boston, citing the criminal complaint, reported that Lefman was interviewed later that day by the FBI and state police with an attorney present. Shown the video and asked whether it showed his fingers, he said, “I don’t know.” The New York Post reported that he apologized but said he had been stretching, and when asked whether he recognized the fingers, said, “Not really, no.”
Lefman was arrested and charged in February 2025 and indicted by a federal grand jury the following month. After a three-day jury trial, he was convicted of one count of abusive sexual contact in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, meaning federal law applies to crimes on US aircraft. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Boston Globe.
The teenage girl is praised for her “remarkable courage” by head of FBI Boston
US Attorney Leah Foley said the teen was “simply trying to travel safely,” and that the verdict “sends a clear message that those who prey on vulnerable passengers will face justice.” Ted Docks, head of the FBI’s Boston office, said she showed “remarkable courage,” and that no one should be subjected to such conduct in a confined public space where she was entitled to feel safe.
US District Judge Julia Kobick has set sentencing for January 12, 2027. The charge carries up to two years in prison, five years to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. A judge sets the sentence under federal guidelines.
How common are in-flight abuse cases?
The FBI says reports of sexual assault on aircraft have been rising. It received 38 in fiscal year 2014, and it investigated 90 in 2022. A CBS News investigation reported more than 170 alleged passenger-on-passenger cases in 2024. FBI officials in Seattle have said about one in five in-flight victims are children. Experts say many cases still go unreported.
The FBI tells passengers to report an incident right away to the flight crew and to ask them to record the person’s identity and alert law enforcement. If it’s told in advance, it can have agents waiting when the plane lands. The agency says it takes reports seriously no matter how long afterward they are made.
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