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Prosecutors: Man Fondled Passenger Traveling With Her Mother On International Flight

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A Rockland County man appeared in court Friday on charges that he fondled a passenger on a flight from Israel to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Yoel Oberlander, 35, of Monsey, was charged by federal prosecutors with one count of abusive sexual contact on an airplane, according to New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

Oberlander was ordered detained Friday after an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors alleged that Oberlander was seated next to the female passenger and her mother on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Newark on Sunday, May 29. He repeatedly put his hand on the girl's thigh and breast without her consent, prosecutors alleged.

Prosecutors did not indicate how old the victim was.

Oberlander is a registered sex offender, prosecutors said. He was convicted of sexual abuse in New York in 2002, for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl, prosecutors said.

If convicted of touching the girl on the plane, Oberlander faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.

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