New Jersey man sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting woman on Philadelphia-bound flight
A New Jersey man was sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a woman seated next to him on a Philadelphia-bound flight, United States Attorney David Metcalf announced Monday.
Vernon Baker, 41, of Linden, was sentenced to 25 months in prison and one year of supervised release for sexually assaulting a woman who was sitting next to him on a flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Baker pleaded guilty to one count of abusive sexual contact in December after he was charged through an indictment in January 2025, officials said.
On Oct. 30, 2024, Baker was on a commercial flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, where he made sexual advances to the woman sitting next to him, officials said. The woman refused Baker's sexual advances, but he then exposed himself on the flight, groped the woman and untied her pants, according to officials.
The woman immediately reported the sexual assault to flight attendants on the plane, officials said.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Federal Air Marshal Service and the Philadelphia Police Department.