A San Gabriel Valley man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly committing abusive sexual contact on a flight bound for Los Angeles. Dennis Wally Woodbury, aged 49 and a resident of Azusa, faces a federal charge for allegedly inappropriately slapping a flight attendant’s buttocks on a Los Angeles-bound flight last month. The charge carries a potential maximum sentence of two years in federal prison.
Woodbury made his initial court appearance last month and is currently free on a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 12 at the United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
Court documents filed in the case state that on April 13, Woodbury, a former California Highway Patrol captain who was dismissed from state service, was on a JetBlue Airways flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles International Airport. Before the flight left the gate, Woodbury allegedly behaved improperly with two male flight attendants. He showed one attendant a photo of a dog with pornographic imagery in the background and made lewd comments.
During meal service, as the second flight attendant was collecting trays, Woodbury reportedly slapped the attendant’s buttocks while under the influence of alcohol and proclaimed his love for the attendant. Later, Woodbury allegedly exposed himself to the first flight attendant in the plane's galley, a behavior that resulted in a denial of his request for wine and an instruction to return to his seat.
The flight attendants have confirmed to law enforcement that they did not consent to Woodbury’s actions. The FBI and Los Angeles Airport Police are currently investigating the incident.
The prosecution is led by Assistant United States Attorney William M. Larsen from the Criminal Appeals Section. It is emphasized that an indictment is an accusation and Woodbury is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.