Sailor accused of groping 13-year-old on flight

Girl pretended to sleep out of fear; 40-year-old man arrested, in custody

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Cops: Man molested girl on flight
Jan. 24: A man is charged with molesting teenage girl on a flight from Honolulu to Phoenix. KPNX-TV's Nick Calderone reports.

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updated 11:58 a.m. ET Jan. 24, 2008

HONOLULU - A 40-year-old U.S. sailor was arrested after he was accused of groping a 13-year-old girl during a flight from Honolulu to Phoenix.

The girl was in a window seat and Shawn Michael Cole was seated by the aisle. According to the complaint, the two watched movies together, and the girl later felt Cole grope her as she rested with her eyes closed.

The girl pretended to be asleep because she was afraid, the complaint said. But a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant confronted Cole after seeing the sailor touching the girl's lips. The girl was moved to another seat.

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Cole was arrested when the flight landed Friday. Police said he initially denied physical contact, but later said he fondled himself while sitting next to the girl.

Cole, who was in federal custody in Arizona, is stationed aboard the USS Olympia submarine at Pearl Harbor. His mother did not to comment to reporters as she left court.