by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:30 AM ET, Fri February 7, 2020
Kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart revealed she was sexually assaulted during a domestic flight last year.
According to CBSNews.com, Smart was on a Delta Air Lines flight in the summer of 2019 when she fell asleep and woke up to find the man sitting next to her rubbing between her legs and inner thigh.
As the Utah-bound flight continued, Smart woke up quickly and the man pulled his hand away, not saying a word to his victim and pretending it didn't happen. Smart said she "froze" and kept saying to herself, "You're Elizabeth Smart. You should know what to do."
"I had been asleep and all of a sudden I woke up because I felt someone's hand rubbing in between my legs on my inner thigh," Smart said. "The last time someone touched me without my say-so was when I was kidnapped. And I froze. I didn't know what to do. And I speak to other women about this."
Smart said she informed Delta about the incident when she filed a complaint later, and the carrier said it was "appalled" by the attack. The airline helped identify the suspect to authorities and is currently working with the FBI on the investigation.
As a result of the scary attack on the Delta flight, and her previous kidnapping ordeal in 2002, Smart has launched "Smart Defense," a program to teach women and girls the skills and confidence needed to protect themselves in similar situations.
In December, Frontier Airlines was served with a federal class-action lawsuit in Colorado after the carrier was accused of failing to "prevent, report and respond to sexual assaults."
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