Alaska man pleads not guilty to sexually assaulting minor during flight

A man from Deering, Alaska was arraigned Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor while on an Alaska Airlines flight heading toward the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

The victim, a 17-year-old girl, was on the same flight with her mother and a friend. She was sitting in a window seat while the suspect, Trayton Ballot, 27, was sitting in her row in the middle spot.

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According to records filed in the case obtained by the U.S. District Court of Western Washington, Ballot began touching and rubbing the victim’s inner thigh while pretending to be asleep. She removed his hand three separate times before she lowered her tray table and wedged a pillow under it to protect her lap.

Ballot tried to touch her once more, prompting the victim to notify the airline staff.

“The victim typed into her phone that the man seated next to her had touched her and showed the message to her mother, who was seated in the row behind her,” the U.S. District Court of Western Washington stated. “At her mother’s instruction, the victim notified the flight attendants who moved her to a different seat.”

Ballot was arrested once the plane arrived in Seattle and was held at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac. He was released the next day under many conditions, including notifying any airline of these charges before he travels.

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Ballot pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday. His trial is now scheduled for April 7.

If found guilty, abusive sexual contact is punishable by up to two years in prison.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.