TSA Officer Charged With Sexually Assaulting Young Woman

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 24: Suitcase sealed with Transportation Security Administration inspected notification tape.

TSA agent stands accused of sexually assaulting an exchange student prior to flight at LaGuardia Airport.

A Transportation Security Administration was arrested Friday after allegedly molesting a traveler at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA). According to a press release from the Queens County District Attorney’s Office, Manhattan resident Maxie Oquendo, 40, has been charged with sexually assaulting a female college student who’d just exited the security checkpoint area.

The alleged incident occurred on Tuesday, August 25. The victim, a 21-year-old woman from Korea, had just arrived at LGA from from Salt Lake City when, upon passing into the public area of the airport, Oquendo approached her. Oquendo allegedly asked her to follow him into the men’s restroom in order to perform “additional screening” of her person and luggage.

Once they were in the restroom, Oquendo allegedly told her to lift her shirt and unzip her pants, at which point he began groping her chest and torso. According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, the victim challenged the screener on the supposed scan, telling him that she needed to be scanned by a woman, but Oquendo ignored her argument. After the alleged assault, Oquendo supposedly told the woman that he would no longer need to scan her luggage and she was cleared to leave. Oquendo was arrested at LGA two days later.

“The defendant is accused of an egregious abuse of his position as a government screener at LaGuardia Airport to sexually victimize a young woman,” says Brown. “Such alleged conduct cannot, under any circumstances, go unpunished.”

In a statement to NBC New York, the TSA confirmed Oquendo is no longer employed by the government administration.

“TSA holds its employees to the highest standards,” said Administrator Peter Neffenger. “As such, we expect our employees to conduct themselves with integrity, professionalism, and with respect for the public we serve. When our employees fail to meet these fundamental ethical standards, we will hold our personnel appropriately accountable.”

[Photo: iStock]