LaGuardia Airport TSA Agent Arrested on Sexual Assault Charge

Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 4:06 PM ET, Fri August 28, 2015

A Transportation Security Administration agent was arrested Thursday after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman at New York's LaGuardia Airport, ABC 7 reported.

Authorities took the suspect into custody following an investigation stemming from allegations made by a 22-year-old female passenger, who claimed that the agent told her she needed to be searched in the bathroom.

The woman, a college student from Korea, was passing through the airport's Terminal B at around 8 p.m. local time Tuesday when the suspect allegedly told her to enter the restroom before molesting her inside, police told ABC 7.

Following the attack, the woman tracked down witnesses who helped identify the agent. The victim then correctly picked the suspect out of a photo lineup and he was subsequently arrested and charged with sexual assault.

This week's disturbing incident comes just four months after a pair of TSA security screeners at Denver International Airport were fired for allegedly groping male passengers during the screening process.

Last month it was revealed that those agents would not face charges given a lack of evidence.

The TSA called those alleged acts "egregious and intolerable" in a statement issued earlier this year. However, the agency has yet to issue a statement on this week's incident at LaGuardia.

Earlier this year, Rep. Tom Rooney introduced the Stop TSA Abuses Act on the House floor, calling full-body screenings and pat-downs conducted by TSA agents "an invasive, unnecessary infringement on passengers' rights."

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