A Brooklyn man convicted of fondling a sleeping woman aboard an international flight to JFK Airport dodged prison time — thanks to a lenient federal judge.
Daniel Katz, 36, was sentenced last week to one year of probation — including three months of unmonitored home detention — and 75 hours of community service for the creepy 2018 sky-high molestation of the 25-year-old woman, according to federal court records.
Federal prosecutors had asked US District Judge Frederic Block, known for previous controversial decisions, to throw Katz behind bars for up to 21 months after his June 2021 jury conviction on charges of abusive sexual contact and a misdemeanor assault count — but the judge instead gave the convict a slap on the wrist.
Katz — who said he was a volunteer at an upstate children’s summer camp and twice taught at schools in South Korea — must also register as a sex offender, Block ruled on Friday.
The victim, identified in court records as “Gina,” was sitting next to Katz aboard Etihad Airways Flt. 103 on Feb. 23, 2018, flying from Abu Dhabi to New York.
She told authorities that after she dozed off, Katz put his hand down her pants and began fondling her while she was in her seat, according to the documents.
Gina testified that she awoke feeling “terrified” and “violated” and burst into tears — and cried herself back to sleep.
“I had absolutely no intention of engaging in any physical, especially sexual, activity with him,” she told the jury, the records show. “It was something that was forced upon me, and I had no say in the experience that I experienced.
“And so, no part of me would have ever wanted to engage in that type of situation with a stranger aboard a plane and in public space,” she said.
Katz was confronted by airline personnel and claimed the attack was consensual.
“My neighbor and I began cuddling, which led to us holding hands and eventually me touching her vagina,” he said in a statement he wrote during the flight.
“She seemed conscious and also seemed to be enjoying our interaction,” he said. “After some time passed afterward, I began to question my actions because we had just met and were on an airplane. Hours later, she seemed upset talking to her friend, so I asked if she was OK and comfortable with what happened, and she said yes.”
