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Passenger Charged With Abusive Sexual Contact After Alleged In‑Flight Assault on Sleeping Seatmate

Prosecutors cite witness accounts, video evidence, plus a post‑flight admission as the case moves forward.

Overview

  • The alleged assault, which unfolded Tuesday on SWISS LX64 from Zurich to Miami, was seen by passengers and a flight attendant who reported his hand on the woman’s crotch over her jeans.
  • Cabin crew moved the man to another seat after confronting him, and he later tried to hand the woman a note that read, “You look beautiful when you are sleeping.”
  • After landing, investigators said he first denied any contact, then admitted touching her when shown eyewitness reports and video, adding that he “did not think it was such a big deal.”
  • Guillaume Sebastien Roger Mattler, a 48‑year‑old French national, is charged in the Southern District of Florida with abusive sexual contact and is being held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami.
  • Crimes on international flights to the United States are handled in federal court, so prosecutors in Miami took the case because the plane arrived there.