Former Rare Staff
The Portland, Ore., woman who pleaded guilty in March to assault with the intent to commit a felony for groping a female passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight back in May 2016 has learned that she will be grounded for three months.
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Heidi McKinney, 27, has been sentenced to three months of probation for the bizarre incident.
The victim said that McKinney touched her crotch multiple times, her breasts for an extended period, licked her ear, whispered dirty sex talk, climbed on top of her and said “she wanted to [expletive].”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Sinha said that McKinney wanted to “humiliate and harass the victim,” that she touched the woman’s inner thigh, crotch and breasts, “allowing her hands to linger there uncomfortably,” and said lewd things.
McKinney was initially charged with abusive sexual contact, but she pleaded guilty to assault with the intent to commit a felony. The maximum penalty would have been 10 years, but three months of probation is the result.
McKinney’s fiance said “that this is what happens” when McKinney drinks, since she does not metabolize alcohol like most people.
The woman admitted that she had just gotten out of treatment for alcohol abuse. McKinney also has two drunk driving convictions.
KOIN reported that McKinney smuggled alcohol on board the flight, that “[s]hortly after taking a plea deal, [she] was found unconscious and intoxicated at a local bar” and eventually completed an inpatient treatment program in mid-June.”
McKinney’s conduct was described by the prosecution as “shocking and abhorrent,” and her victim is “deeply traumatized.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
