Court documents: Georgia doctor faces federal charges after allegations he groped woman on plane
Throughout the flight, the woman says, he would touch her inappropriately -- including when the plane encountered turbulence.
Throughout the flight, the woman says, he would touch her inappropriately -- including when the plane encountered turbulence.
Throughout the flight, the woman says, he would touch her inappropriately -- including when the plane encountered turbulence.
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A Georgia man is facing federal charges after being accused of groping a woman on a flight to Maine.
Jake Namjik Cho was scheduled to face a judge Thursday morning for an initial appearance in connection to the March incident. That appearance was rescheduled to June 23.
Multiple media outlets have identified Cho as a Georgia doctor who specializes in nephrology.
Piedmont Healthcare lists a Dr. Cho as having nephrology offices in both Fayetteville and Newnan.
According to court documents, Cho was seated next to a woman on a Delta Airlines flight from Georgia to the Portland International Jetport.
When they arrived in Portland, the woman accused Cho of continuously leaning into her seat area while he pretended to be asleep.
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Throughout the flight, the woman alleged, Cho would touch her inappropriately -- including when the plane encountered turbulence. She said despite shifting her body away from him, he reached over "which would have required the male's deliberate movement."
The victim exclaimed "Excuse me," to which the man reacted by immediately retracting his hand, documents say.
Upon landing in Portland, the woman reported the incident to authorities who identified the man as Cho, according to officials.
Before his return trip to Georgia, Cho was interviewed by Portland police and a Federal Air Marshal. He told authorities he was a doctor in Georgia who lived in Peachtree and worked in Fayetteville.
Cho denied touching the woman at all, claiming he was in Maine to propose to his girlfriend.
Cho would be interviewed again in April, once again denying that he assaulted the woman who sat next to him on his flight to Portland "indicating that she made up the story," documents read.
However, during an interview after a polygraph test, Cho admitted he touched the woman but denied it was sexual, documents say.
According to court records, Cho said he stretched out his legs and at some point touched his left foot against her right and maintained contact until he fell asleep. The statement continues he fell asleep and woke up leaning on his left facing her.
"At some point, I saw her and reached out and grabbed her right upper thigh with my left hand," the statement reads, "I intended to only squeeze her upper right thigh and never intended to touch her crotch."
Court documents say Cho would go on to say his glasses were off and it was dark, adding he removed his hand when he heard her exclaim.
"I was so embarrassed and did not know what to do so I closed my eyes and I tried to go back to sleep for the remainder of the flight," the statement reads.
Cho faces one count of abusive sexual contact on an aircraft and could face up to two years in prison with a fine of $250,000.