A former police officer for LAX
was sentenced today to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a passenger
while he was on duty at the airport.
Michael Wayne Staunton, 56, was
convicted of sexual battery by restraint, assault by a peace officer and false
imprisonment by fraud by a jury this November. Today he was sentenced to four
years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender, according to the
District Attorney's Office.
The sexual assault took place
in April 2011. A then-25-year-old woman was sitting on a bench with a friend,
waiting to board her plane. Staunton was on duty at his station in Terminal 1
just inside the security screening area. He came up to the woman and made some
sort of sexual comment.
He returned later and motioned
for the woman to come with him. District Attorney Jane Robison told LAist,
"She thought maybe they were in trouble."
Staunton led the woman to a
storage area that required a security access card. He then proceeded to
sexually assault her. He walked her back to the departure area where the woman
met up with her friends. She told them what happened, and they immediately
reported the assault to the LAPD, which investigated the case (the airport
police and LAPD are separate agencies).
Los Angeles World Airports
police told LAist they were not commenting on the case. Staunton is no longer
with the agency.
