Female singer live tweets 'being groped by a man on her flight' but says the FBI told her 'it's not the crime of the century' when she reported it

  • Ariana Lenarsky from LA claims assault occurred on flight to Texas
  • She alleges that the man 'grabbed and stroked' her calf as she walked by
  • Lenarsky later tweeted a photo of the alleged groper from the plane
  • Claims that no one took her seriously and the FBI were dismissive  

Los Angeles-based singer Ariana Lenarsky (pictured) claims she was groped on a flight by a male passenger and is going public with her story

A woman who claims she was groped on a flight by a male passenger has gone public with her story after authorities allegedly dismissed her complaints as nothing when she landed.

Los Angeles-based singer Ariana Lenarsky used the in-flight Wi-Fi and live tweeted the incident during a flight from Austin, Texas on Saturday, writing: 'Some guy grabbed & stroked my calf (??) as I walked by on the plane' in her first post.

Lenarsky later informed her followers that the FBI told her 'it's not the crime of the century', when she reported it, leading her to post an image of the alleged groper to prove that 'the process of reporting assault is broken'.

The chain of events began when Lenarsky, who describes herself as a professional lullabyist for radio, boarded her flight with an unidentified airline on Saturday evening. 

A man allegedly reached out and groped her calf as she walked by his seat, which Lenarsky felt was an unmistakable violation.

Inappropriate: Ariana Lenarsky alleged that she was touched by a man as she tried to board her flight from Austin to LA on Saturday

Enraged, Lenarsky tweeted she immediately confronted the man and took his picture.

She claims she did not initially intend to post the image of the man in question, first tweeting: 'Not gonna post it, but I hope he's freaked out'.

However, it was when she raised her complaint with the flight attendants that the situation deteriorated further.

Lenarsky tweeted she told the flight attendants about her alleged assault, who apparently 'nodded' as it transpired another woman on the same flight had also complained.

She learned that the woman had claimed the man had tried to kiss her.

It was then that she asked her followers what to do, essentially crowd-sourcing for advice.

She asked her 7,700 followers whether she should post the man's picture and tag the airline, describing the experience as choose-your-own-adventure, but with harassment.  

Controversial: Lenarsky described her journey as a choose-your-own-adventure, but with harassment 

According to Lenarsky, the captain was informed and the crew said they were planning to file a report with the airline - the name of which she did not disclose.  

Upon landing, she tweeted: 'Police took him off the plane. I'm still here & they're taking my & another woman's report. The legal term for how he grabbed me is battery.'

Lenarsky attests that the man 'tried to kiss' the other victim, who didn't wish to press charges because crimes committed in the sky require the involvement of the FBI.

She further reported that if she wanted to press charges herself, she would have to pay for a flight back to Austin on her 'dime' in order to do so, remarking, 'I don't want to do that'.

When contacted Austin Police Department told the DailyMail.com: 

'The Austin Police Department was not part of this case. The incident that occurred happened while the plane was in flight, which makes it a federal violation. The individual spoke to local law enforcement where she landed, as well as the FBI.'

Depressing: Ariana Lenarsky tweeted she felt let down by the authorities who did not take her complaint seriously 

Lenarsky then tweeted: 'Police said they would "give him a talking to"& "it's not the crime of the century." True! I'm going to tweet his picture now since it's nbd'.

On Monday, she clarified her previous tweet, writing 'it wasn't local cops that said this to me. It was the FBI'.

The photo of the accused shows a man in the aisle seat with the middle seat next to him empty, looking directly into the camera. 

She captioned the image: 'You can't grab women on a plane, guy. You can't do it. Hope you get the help you need'.

Her post was retweeted more than 11,000 times. 

Hundreds on Twitter expressed their outrage at the man's actions,

'What was he thinking, doing something like this in a confined space of an airplane.'

Since then, Lenarsky says she has been contacted by the Austin Police Department who asked her for further details of the report she filed with authorities upon landing.

Last night, she surmised: 'By sharing this story, I believe I have inadvertently illuminated that the process of reporting assault is broken. 

'No one - from Twitter all the way up to the FBI - has a clear, just, and efficient protocol for how to handle sexual assault and battery.'

While Lenarsky's claims are still unsubstantiated, DailyMail.com has  contacted Lenarsky and the FBI for comment.

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