Woah, woah, woah, buddy, who do you think you are? A TSA agent? Sorry, but airport U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Officers have no right to touch passengers against their will.
Officer Paulo Morales, 47, was arrested today after being indicted yesterday on charges related to groping female passengers.
The charges stem from incidents that happened in January 2011.
In the first incident, on January 14, 2011, a female passenger from Guatemala was passing through the Federal Inspection Area. The indictment claims that Morales grabbed the woman's breasts through her clothing with "an intent to
abuse, humiliate, and degrade" her for his own "sexual desires."
On January 20, Morales allegedly subjected a Honduran woman to the same degrading behavior. Then, on January 27, Morales is alleged to have once again groped another woman traveling from Israel.
In addition to facing three felony counts of abusive sexual conduct, Morales also faces an additional three misdemeanor counts of deprivation of civil rights since the contact violates the constitution's protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
If convicted, Morales could face up to 9 years in prison. The felony charges carry a maximum penalty of two years each, while the misdemeanor charges carry a maximum punishment of one year each.
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