Spirit Airlines passenger allegedly sexually assaulted a woman while she slept on a plane

Jim Young/Reuters

The man was taken into custody and charged with aggravated sexual abuse after the flight landed in Detroit.

• A male passenger on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Detroit was arrested after a female passenger accused him of sexually assaulting her while she was asleep.
• A court filing claims that the woman was sleeping against a window when the man, Prabhu Ramamoorthy, unbuttoned her shirt, unzipped her pants, and stuck his fingers in her pants.
• Spirit Airlines told Business Insider it is cooperating with law enforcement.

A male passenger on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Detroit was arrested after a female passenger accused him of sexually assaulting her while she was asleep, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.

The man, Prabhu Ramamoorthy, was charged with aggravated sexual abuse. Federal prosecutors claim in the court filing that the 22-year-old woman was sleeping against a window when Ramamoorthy unbuttoned her shirt, unzipped her pants, and repeatedly stuck his fingers in her pants. After the woman woke up, he stopped, according to the filing.

The filing also claims that flight attendants noticed the woman was "visibly upset" and "crying" when she reported the incident.

After the flight landed in Detroit, Ramamoorthy was taken into custody by local authorities and in an interview with a law enforcement official said that he "might have" un-done the woman's bra and touched her breasts, according to the filing.

The filing also claims that Ramamoorthy said he partially unzipped the woman's pants.

In his initial written statement, Ramamoorthy said he was in "deep sleep" and wasn't sure where his hand had gone after the woman fell asleep on his knees, according to the filing.

"We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and refer any questions to them at this time," Spirit said in a statement to Business Insider.