No charges yet in TSA groping case

Charges have yet to be filed against a pair of Transportation Security Administration agents at Denver International Airport who were fired for allegedly plotting to grope male passengers. 

The agents, a male and female who have not been named, were accused of manipulating security equipment at the Denver airport to ensure the male agent could pat down “attractive” male passengers without drawing suspicion of improper behavior, according to a Denver police report. 

A spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney’s office told The Hill on Tuesday that officials were initially unable to press charges against the terminated TSA agents because no airline passengers had come forward to say they were victimized. 

{mosads}“When the case was originally presented to our office in March, police had not been able to identify any victims, and therefore we were unable to file any charges,” Denver District Attorney Communications Director Lynn Kimbrough said in an email. 

“Recent media coverage has prompted a number of people to report to the Denver police department that they may have been a victim,” she continued. “This has enabled the investigation to be reopened. Once the investigation is complete, a detective will present the case and we will review it to see if the new information is enough to support filing a criminal charge(s). There is no timeframe for the investigation, and questions specific to the investigation should be directed to DPD.” 

TSA officials said the Denver agents were fired as soon as the groping allegations against them were validated. 

“These alleged acts are egregious and intolerable,” the agency said in a statement earlier this month. 

“TSA has removed two officers from the agency,” the statement continued. “All allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated by the agency. And when substantiated, employees are held accountable.”

Denver law enforcement officials said they were initially notified about the alleged TSA groping scheme by an anonymous tip.

The city’s police department said the male TSA agent would provide a signal to a female worker when he wanted to pat down a male passenger in her lane. She would then tell the agency’s computer system that it was scanning a female passenger. The confusion would lead the scanning machine to request further inspection. 

TSA protocols normally require pat downs to be conducted by an agent of the same gender. 

Interim TSA Administrator Melvin Carraway has said the allegations against the Denver agents are “disturbing.” 

“This blatant violation of public trust by two individuals has significantly tarnished TSA’s reputation,” he wrote in a blog post on the TSA website. “Think about it — in an agency that employs more than 50,000 people, the irresponsible and potentially illegal behavior of just one or two reckless employees can severely and negatively impact the operational effectiveness of everyone else committed to carrying out our vital national security mission.”