Airplane Flasher To Serve 6 Months

An Alaska man who exposed himself during an airplane flight and forced a woman passenger to put her hand on his genitals was sentenced Friday to six months in prison.

Steven Dale Berry, 26, of Anchorage had pleaded guilty to simple assault on May 29.

U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Philip Sweigert sentenced Berry to the maximum sentence for simple assault under federal law and ordered him to pay up to $1,680 for counseling for the woman passenger.

The assault occurred May 15 on a Reno Airlines flight from Anchorage to Seattle. Berry was in a window seat, with the woman sitting next to him, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Berry already had consumed “some quantity of alcohol” before boarding the flight and consumed additional drinks once the plane was in the air, court documents said.

During the flight, Berry groped the woman seated next to him. He ignored her objections.

He then lowered the tray table in front of him, unzipped his pants, exposed himself and grabbed the woman’s hand and forcibly placed it on his genitals, court documents said.

The woman jumped out of her seat and alerted the flight crew.

Berry was arrested by the FBI after he arrived in Seattle.