San Diego man sentenced to two years for sexually abusing teenager aboard flight

San Diego resident Ryan Coffey was on a cross-country flight in January 2023 when he offered alcohol to a 14-year-old sitting next to him, according to court records. He didn’t know the girl, who was 17 years his junior, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. That didn’t prevent Coffey, however, from sexually molesting her on the five-hour-plus American Airlines evening flight from Charlotte, N.C., to San Diego. Now a federal judge has sentenced Coffey to prison for his actions. The now 33-year-old was sentenced Monday to two years in prison and 10 years of supervised release afterward and saddled with just under $11,000 in fines and restitution. Coffey had pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact in August. A call to his attorney was not immediately answered. Coffey admitted in court that he supplied the girl with rum and touched her inner thigh and breasts, according to the Department of Justice. A fellow passenger said that she heard the minor tell Coffey that she was afraid of flying, according to a sentencing memo. That's when he took out a bottle of alcohol from his bag and gave it to her to relax, according to the witness statement in the memo.<br/>