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Man who was charged with molesting a woman and open self fondling on an international flight to Boston agrees to plead guilty, delete photos of the woman

An Indian national pulled off a plane from the Middle East after it landed at Logan Monday morning has agreed to plead guilty in a deal with prosecutors in which he would be put on probation for 24 months - and would have to delete all the photos on his phone that he took of a woman he was molesting on the flight before he went back to his seat, unzipped his pants and brought himself off in full view of at least two other passengers.

The plea deal, filed today in US District Court in the case of Krishna Kunapuli, 39, still must be approved by a judge before he is released from a charge of committing a lewd, indecent or obscene act on a plane that first lands in the US. The crime carries a maximum possible penalty of 90 days in federal prison.

Kunapuli allegedly caressed the hair of a woman passenger he didn't know, offered her $5,000 to sleep with him in Boston and grabbed or fondled one of her breasts on an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi, according to an affidavit by an FBI agent on the case. After a flight attendant made him return to his seat, he got out his phone and unzipped his pants and masturbated. Although he had a blanket, his motions were obvious and the blanket kept falling off, the affidavit states.

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Comments

...the better.

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Voting closed 31

...but hear me out: If you assault someone on the plane here, why are you allowed to stay here? It's Randi Goldklank all over again... and yes, I am equating something with something else.

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Voting closed 23

He will continue to do this. Sex offenders have a huge rate of recidivism. He has done this before. He will do it again. Of course, people already know that. Many men have done this before, and they will do it again, and they will get away with it too because society lets it happen.

We need sex offenders locked up, throw away the key.

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Voting closed 37

He must be buddies with AJ.

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Voting closed 25

to facilitate a resolution at the speed of light.

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Voting closed 28

Although some federal cases drag on for years, you do occasionally get low-level cases like this where the defendant's lawyer and prosecutors are able to come to a quick resolution.

This isn't to minimize what the woman went through - if this had happened in, say, a hotel ballroom downtown, he'd be facing a charge of indecent assault and battery - but in federal terms, we're talking a relatively short maximum potential prison stay.

I'm no lawyer, obviously, but I wonder if part of that has to do with the difficulty of felony charges involving activity that did not actually happen in the US (I don't know where a plane four hours out of Abu Dhabi would be exactly, but am pretty sure it's not in US airspace).

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Voting closed 22

I also think it has to do with that this happened over international waters, so I think this is more of the case that the US doesn't want to keep him. Its in the US's best interest to slap this guy on the wrist, put him back on a plane to Abu Dhabi, and bar him from enter the US again.

Its easier and less costly for the taxpayers just to have a swift resolution and be done with this guy.

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Voting closed 37

Presumably he will be on the next plane to Abu Dhabi, or India, or whoever will take him.

It would be nice to see a followup on this. Any way to find out if he actually is deported?

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Voting closed 10

Unless I've missed it, the Middlesex DA and "elite" Mass Staties haven't even released the name of the driver who drove onto the sidewalk and killed John Corcoran a MONTH ago.

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Voting closed 26

Murder is a bit different. You gotta make sure you have a case before you start pointing fingers, even if it's obvious.

In this case of this guy, there were many witnesses to what happened. Plus the guy admitted he did it.

Corcoran case.. not so much. So more time is needed.

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Voting closed 18

A crosswalk. Where’s your outrage there?!

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Voting closed 9

Why is their nationality of any importance?

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Voting closed 13

that the flight was from or to.

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Voting closed 27

They won't want him either. If he goes anywhere he's going to India.

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Voting closed 11

That $5000 he offered the lady is the same as the fine for the crime of "Pandering" in Boston. He got off easy.

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Voting closed 15