A man has filed a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) accusing a screener of inappropriately touching his genitals and taking away his daughter’s innocence in the process.
According to the New York Post, 61-year-old Mark Frey was returning to New York from Palm Beach, Florida with his girlfriend and two daughters when a TSA screener at Palm Beach International Airport allegedly fondled him.
Frey, who has metal prosthetics in his neck, said he was denied his request for a private search. Instead, he claims the screener instructed him to lift his shirt up to his head and began “roughly touching” his genitals long enough for Frey’s eight-year-old daughter to notice.
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“They took away my child’s innocence,” said Frey. “I want it to be a learning moment for everybody, where we can try to lose some of this insanity.”
According to the lawsuit, another traveler who witnessed the troubling patdown filed her own complaint on Frey’s behalf.
While a TSA agent was recently applauded after springing into action to prevent a potential disaster at a Georgia airport when smoke began billowing out of a bag last month, the agency has come under fire of late following a controversial proposal to eliminate some security screening at dozens of smaller airports.
The security checkpoints will remain amid budget concerns and TSA is also looking to hire thousands of security officers, canine handlers and other positions to combat growing passenger lines.
