
Couple arrested for 'having sex aboard JetBlue flight' in front of mom and kids traveling from NYC to Florida
Trista Reilly, 43, and Christopher Arnold, 42, of Danbury, were arrested on Saturday upon their arrival at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Florida and charged with two counts of lewd and the felony lascivious exhibition.
The disturbing incident unfolded on the flight from John F Kennedy International Airport in NYC to Sarasota, and court documents claimed a flight attendant was alerted by a mom who reported that the couple were engaged in lewd acts - in full view of her children.
An affidavit said that after being notified, the flight attendant observed Reilly 'making up-and-down movements with her head while she was facedown on Mr Arnold's lap'.
The mother also provided a witness statement, and noted that Reilly appeared to notice her children watching but they 'didn't stop'.
Police were at the scene as soon as the plane landed, and Reilly and Arnold were taken into custody.
Both defendants were released without bail and scheduled to be arraigned on August 15.
The airline said in a statement: 'This behavior is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated by JetBlue.
'Immediately upon receiving the report, our crewmembers acted swiftly to engage JetBlue's security team and law enforcement.
'We are fully cooperating with the investigation and these customers are no longer welcome to fly JetBlue.'
Since Reilly and Arnold are both over 18, their alleged offense of lewd or lascivious exhibition in the presence of minors was classified as a second-degree felony - if convicted, they could face up to 15 years in prison.
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Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 has for years acted as a shield (or a get-out-of-jail card, depending on your perspective) protecting social media companies from liability for user-generated content posted on their platforms. In court, Snap Inc's attorney describes the platform as a tech-service provider, like a phone company. You wouldn't sue a phone company if a drug deal was made over the phone. The back-and-forth between the lawyers and the judge is a gripping intellectual tennis match. Peltz tells me that parents often feel powerless. 'But this is not a blame-the-parents situation. Companies need to make the changes so that these sites are responsible and are safe for children to be on. Parents can't be expected to keep up with their children when it comes to digital advances. It's time for these companies to stop blaming parents.' As for teenagers, people can be judgmental, she says. 'I think it's human nature to say, 'Well my child wouldn't buy drugs online.' Or, 'My child couldn't be sextorted.' The answer is that we can all hope that our children won't do things like that. But children are children. We all know about the frontal cortex, that it doesn't get fully developed until your 20s. Children make mistakes. They should be allowed to make mistakes and not have to die as a result.' Can't Look Away: The Case Against Social Media is in UK cinemas and streaming on from 8 August In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@ and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at