10일 항공기에서 잠자던 여성을 성추행한 혐의로 체포된 40대 한인 남성은 한국의 대학교수로 유명 아이비리그 대학에 교환교수로 부임하던 중 범행을 저지른 것으로 나타나 충격을 주고 있다.

소송 및 사건·사고를 중심으로 다루는 온라인 매체 ‘스모킹건닷컴’ 따르면 이날 연방수사국(FBI)에 체포된 용의자는 한동대 산업정보디자인학부의 이은종(47·사진) 교수로 밝혀졌다. 이씨는 이날 업스테이트 뉴욕 이타카에 있는 코넬대에 교환교수로 오던 중 이 같은 범행을 저질렀다.

소장에 따르면 이씨는 10일 오후 5시30분 일본 도쿄에서 출발해 뉴왁공항으로 오던 유나이티드에어라인 78편에서 수면을 취하던 옆자리의 여성을 손으로 만진 혐의다.

FBI에 따르면 이 교수는 도쿄 나리타공항에서 출발한 유나이티드항공 여객기에서 옆자리에서 자고 있는 여성 승객의 목과 가슴을 더듬고 옷 속으로 손을 집어넣으려 했다. 잠이 깬 여성이 "만지지 말라"고 항의하자 이 교수는 재빨리 자리에서 일어나 화장실로 도망친 것으로 알려졌다.

뉴왁공항에 도착하자마자 대기하고 있던 FBI 요원에게 체포된 이씨는 수사 과정에서 범행 사실을 인정한 것으로 알려졌다. 이씨의 유죄가 확정되면 최대 2년의 징역과 25만 달러의 벌금형을 선고받을 수 있다.

한편 코넬대는 이 같은 사실이 알려진 후 보도자료를 통해 이씨의 교환교수 자격을 정지했다고 밝혔다.

Eun Jong Lee – Allegedly sexually assaulted another passenger on an United Airlines flight between and Newark on August 10, 2014. See, e.g., http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2723133/Man-47-arrested-female-passenger-wokegroping-United-flight-Tokyo-Newark.html. Lee has been charged with abusive sexual contact (18 U.S.C. § 2244) (no. D.N.J. 14-MJ-06726). The case is pending. 기소장 원본 An Ivy League visiting scholar was arrested Sunday by the FBI after he allegedly groped a sleeping woman’s breast and then tried to slide his hand down her shirt while traveling on a flight from Tokyo to Newark, New Jersey. Eun-jong Lee, 47, was detained by federal agents upon departing the United Airlines flight. He was subsequently charged with abusive sexual contact, a felony carrying a maximum two-year prison term and a $250,000 fine. According to a criminal complaint sworn by FBI Agent Mary Anne Flippo, Lee and the woman were seated next to each other on Flight 78. The woman, who was traveling alone, told agents she did not know Lee. During the 13-hour flight, the woman nodded off, Flippo reported. She later awoke to find one of Lee’s hands “located on top of her shirt and touching her breast through her clothing.” Lee then allegedly “touched the skin of the Victim’s neck and attempted to place his hand down the front of her shirt.” When the woman told Lee to stop touching her, he got up and walked to a restroom at the far end of the aircraft. The victim reported the incident to flight crew members, to whom she also provided a written statement. During subsequent questioning by FBI agents, Lee reportedly confessed to “among other things, touching the Victim in her breast region with his hand.” Pictured above, Lee is a professor at Handong Global University in South Korea. He is also a visiting scholar at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he was headed prior to his arrest. Lee teaches in the College of Human Ecology’s Design & Environmental Analysis program. Lee, a design researcher specializing in user experience, or UX, has worked closely with “Samsung and LG electronics design teams on smart interface/interaction design projects,” according to a brief biography on the Ivy League school’s web site. (2 pages) 8/12 UPDATE: After TSG first disclosed Lee’s connection to Cornell, a school spokesperson issued a statement saying that his “privileges at Cornell have been suspended and his future affiliation with the university will be assessed as the facts of this matter are confirmed.”