A Boston father has been convicted of molesting a teenage girl through the seat gap on a JetBlue flight while he was on vacation with his wife and four children.
Jonathan Alan Lefman, 48, assaulted the 17-year-old victim on a flight from Puerto Rico on August 30, 2024, according to the US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts.
Prosecutors said that multiple times throughout the flight, Lefman wedged his fingers between the back and bottom of the seat in front of him, where the girl was sat.
He then touched her buttocks without her permission, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Daily Mail.
The victim was able to identify Lefman as her molester because she saw his reflection leaning between the seats in the seatback monitor in front of her, the court filing said.
She also recorded video on her phone of his fingers protruding through the seat.
Lefman, who initially denied fondling the girl, had been sitting next to his 16-year-old son as he carried out the assaults. His son was not accused of any wrongdoing.
The 48-year-old was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in February 2025, and then indicted by a grand jury the following month.
A jury convicted him of one count of abusive sexual contact while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the US on October 16 this year, following a three-day trial.
Jonathan Alan Lefman, 48, was convicted of one count of abusive sexual contact while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the US on October 16, 2026 after he fondled a 17-year-old girl on a JetBlue flight in August 2024
Footage captured by the victim showed Lefman's fingers wedged his fingers between the back and bottom of the seat in front of him
Lefman will be sentenced in January and faces up to two years in prison, five years to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
According to the victim, Lefman assaulted her multiple times while she was onboard Boston-bound JetBlue flight 62.
The flight departed San Juan, Puerto Rico just before 10am on August 30, 2024, the criminal complaint said.
The defendant and his family had been assigned seats A through F in row 31, while the victim was sat in row 30.
During the flight, Lefman 'touched me without my permission,' the victim said in a written statement to investigators.
She alleged that at first 'I thought he was stretching because we all get tired' but said that eventually she 'started to realize that he was really touching me.'
The 17-year-old 'kept moving forward and side to side' to avoid being touched, the criminal complaint said.
The plane landed at Boston Logan International Airport around 2pm, the filing noted.
As they were waiting to deplane, Lefman touched her buttocks again, prosecutors said.
'We was waiting to long enough for him to trying to touch me again and was when I really saw his hand through the seat and I did a video of him,' she told investigators.
She also captured a video of Lefman as he was getting off the aircraft, the filing said.
The victim said that Lefman, pictured outside court in 2025, touched her buttocks without her permission several times throughout the flight
The assault occurred on a Boston-bound JetBlue flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Lefman had been travelling with his wife and children, including a 16-year-old son who was sat besides him as he fondled the girl. The teenage boy has not been accused of any wrongdoing
After deplaning, a member of the victim's family reported Lefman's conduct to a JetBlue supervisor.
The family member, referred to only as an adult woman, then confronted Lefman outside the terminal and showed him the video of his finger wiggling in the seat.
He told the woman that he had been stretching and apologized, the complaint said.
The woman then addressed Lefman's wife, telling her that she should be concerned about his behavior as she has children, the filing said.
Lefman 'repeatedly sexually abused a minor who was simply trying to travel safely aboard a commercial flight,' US Attorney Leah B Foley said in a statement.
'No one should have to fear being sexually assaulted, whether in the air or on the ground. Today's verdict holds the defendant accountable for his disturbing conduct and sends a clear message that those who prey on vulnerable passengers will face justice,' Foley said.
Ted E Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Boston, added: 'This verdict delivers justice for a young teen who showed remarkable courage following an appalling act.
'No one should ever be subjected to such harmful and predatory conduct—least of all in a confined, public space where she was entitled to feel safe.
Docks said the FBI is 'fully committed to protecting children and ensuring those who exploit or abuse them, like Mr. Lefman, are brought to justice.'
Source link
