PROVIDENCE – A Newport man is facing federal charges after he allegedly repeatedly touched a 16-year-old girl during a flight from Florida to Rhode Island last year, court filings show.

James F. Brugman, 54, was charged with abusive sexual contact and simple assault following the alleged incident onboard a Breeze Airways flight from Tampa to Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick on Nov. 17, 2025.

“Specifically, Brugman, during the flight, intentionally placed his hand on the inner thigh of a 16-year-old female passenger, kissed her hand, and rubbed her leg, all without her permission,” Adam Hopkins, a special agent and federal air marshal with the Federal Air Marshal Service, wrote in an affidavit.

Brugman was arrested on May 27 and appeared that day in US District Court in Providence, and was released on conditions, court records show.

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An attorney listed for Brugman did not return a request for comment.

According to the affidavit, Brugman and the teenager – who traveled alone – were seated next to one another in a two-seat row onboard an Airbus A220-300 for the two-hour-and-44-minute flight.

In an interview two days later, the teen told Hopkins that Brugman “initiated repeated, unwanted interactions,” and had boarded the aircraft “appearing to stumble and was very loud.”

“He was also excessively talkative, often repeating stories and forgetting that he had already told them,” Hopkins wrote.

The teen said Brugman repeatedly asked her about her age, “expressing disbelief that she was 16 years old and insisting she was older,” the affidavit states.

“Despite [the teen] informing him multiple times that she was 16, Brugman continued to engage her in sexually charged conversation, asking inappropriate personal questions,” the affidavit states.

Brugman “made repeated unsolicited and unwanted physical contact with [the teen], including touching her hand, leg, and upper thigh,” Hopkins wrote. At one point, Brugman allegedly “placed his hand flat on her thigh, with his fingers curved down around the inside of her inner thigh,” the filing states.

The teen also told Hopkins that Brugman took out his cell phone and scrolled through pictures, and stopped on one “depicting a female wearing a white shirt, short blue plaid skirt, and underwear, taken from a low angle beneath the skirt,” according to the filing. He also stopped on an image of “a male and female having what appeared to be sexual intercourse,” according to the affidavit.

Brugman allegedly offered to give the girl a ride after the flight and “told her to find him in Rhode Island if she was ever there,” Hopkins wrote. The teen reported “Brugman continued to stare at her as she walked toward baggage claim after the flight, further contributing to her distress.”

The teen “described that she felt scared and uncomfortable throughout the flight,” and after meeting her mother at the airport “broke down and cried,” the affidavit states. The two then reported what happened to the Rhode Island Airport Police, Hopkins wrote, adding the teen said she did not report the incident during the flight because “Brugman repeatedly claimed to be a good person, and she did not want to make him angry.”

Hopkins also interviewed “multiple witnesses” who were onboard the flight, including one who described Brugman as “being very loud, ‘pretty loose,’ and possibly high or drunk, sounding like a ‘dirty old man,’” the affidavit states.

Two of the other passengers became concerned when they heard Brugman ask the teen if she had a ride at the end of the flight, and one “was bothered enough by Brugman’s conduct that he considered taking a picture of Brugman, but he ultimately decided against it,” Hopkins wrote.

According to court records, Brugman’s case is due back in court on Monday for a status hearing.

Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.