What happened
A 44-year-old captain for All Nippon Airways (ANA) has been sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison by the Tokyo District Court for indecent assault on a female flight attendant. The incident occurred in October 2023 in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, where the captain groped the flight attendant's buttocks multiple times while walking to a hotel after a group meal. Despite admitting to the acts during an internal investigation and promising proper behavior, ANA did not suspend him from duty or demote him to first officer, allowing him to continue serving as captain while the trial proceeded. The court found the flight attendant's testimony convincing and dismissed the captain's claim that he believed the touch was permissible due to built trust. Prosecutors had sought a term of 2 years and 6 months. The captain is expected to be fired following the sentence