A passenger has been charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman on a flight.

George Seryogin of Massachusetts was accused of groping the woman during a United Airlines flight from Tokyo, Japan to Dulles, Virginia.

The woman, who was sitting next to him, “was also quietly crying, with tears streaming down her face", according to an FBI affidavit.

Seryogin allegedly started by touching her knee, before placing a blanket over her leg so that others could not see what he was doing.

He then began sexually groping her, according to the affidavit, before she pushed his hands off.

Seryogin has been indicted by a grand jury on a federal criminal charge: one count of abusive sexual contact onboard an aircraft in flight.

His case will be prosecuted at the federal court in Alexandria.

“My client firmly denies the allegations against him,” Seryogin’s attorney, Mary M Nerino, told News4.