Monday, Aug. 12, 2013 | 2:34 p.m.
A couple is facing federal indecency charges after being accused of engaging in sexual acts during an Allegiant Air flight from Medford, Ore., to Las Vegas, according to court documents.
A federal complaint was filed Aug. 6 charging Christopher Martin, 44, and Jessica Stroble, who is in her 30s, with lewd, indecent and obscene acts on an airplane.
Metro Police met the couple when their plane landed June 21 after multiple passengers complained about their conduct and two flight attendants told them to stop, according to the complaint.
Witnesses reported seeing Stroble perform oral sex on Martin and Martin fondling Stroble during the flight, according to the complaint.
“This is not the sex education I wanted to give my teenage sons,” one passenger remarked to a flight attendant, according to the complaint.
Martin’s attorney, Larry Hill, said Martin, a winemaker, was committed to fighting the charges.
Hill questioned how witnesses, who were a significant distance from his client, could be sure of what they saw in the cramped quarters of the plane. The witnesses would not have had a clear view of the couple, because a friend of theirs was seated in the aisle seat next to them, he said.
The friend was not mentioned in the complaint and it was not known if she gave a statement to police.
Martin, who is back home in Applegate Valley in Southern Oregon, is suffering from the allegations, and going anywhere in the small town is awkward, Hill said.
Martin took a leave of absence from his job, Hill said.
Hill said he thought the charges were over the top. Martin and Stroble could be facing 90 days in jail and a $500 fine, he said.
“It’s incredible that FBI would get involved in something as insignificant as this case,” Hill said.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy