TSA Worker Accused of Molesting Girl in Airport Bathroom

Imagine a profession that grants its workers the power to confiscate the belongings of law-abiding citizens, detain them arbitrarily, scan them with machines that can record their naked bodies, and physically fondle the private parts of adults and children.

Now imagine if that job granted police powers without requiring law enforcement training, and was so frowned upon and hated by the vast majority of the public, that they would probably have to hire just about anyone who walks through the door. With all that power and responsibility combined with such low standards, you could reasonably expect that job to attract absolutely horrible people, right?

Of course it would. Which would probably explain why the following transpired:

QUEENS, N.Y. (WABC) –A TSA screener is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at LaGuardia Airport in New York City after telling her she needed to be searched in the bathroom.

The suspect did not post $3,000 bail and was moved to jail late Friday night.

Defense attorneys argued two witnesses said they saw another man, but prosecutors say the victim picked Maxie Oquendo out in a lineup.

The TSA screener is accused of using his job to lure a passenger into a bathroom at LaGuardia Airport under the guise that he needed to search her for weapons.

Maxie Oquendo allegedly sexually assaulted a 21-year-old student from South Korea after her Salt Lake City flight landed Tuesday afternoon.

Court documents show the suspect allegedly said, “Hey, ma’am, I need to scan your body and your luggage.”
She responded by saying, “You can’t scan me, but you can have a woman scan me, because I am a girl.”

The victim asked the 40-year-old TSA screener if he checked all passengers, and Oquendo allegedly said yes.

He then allegedly lifted up her shirt, unzipped her pants and fondled her.

Saying afterwards, “She’s clear. She doesn’t have any weapons or knives.”

Oquendo has since been arrested on charges unlawful imprisonment, official misconduct, sexual abuse, and harassment. If he’s convicted he may face up to 1 year in prison (I wonder how much you or I would get for molesting a college girl?). As of now he’s been fired by the TSA, after working for the agency for 13 years. Who knows how many other people he may have abused in that time.

Apparently he didn’t have a criminal record, so the TSA wouldn’t have been able to filter him out during the hiring process. However, that hasn’t stopped them from hiring criminals and pedophiles in the past. In any case, one could argue that working for the TSA is a crime in itself. After all, Oquendo is only accused of doing what he normally gets paid to do on a daily basis.