Federal charges have been filed against one Utah airline pilot who has been accused of feeling up a 14-year-old girl on a flight from Detroit to Salt Lake City.

According to the Associated Press, 45-year-old Michael James Pascal of Park City, was charged this week with abusive sexual contact by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah.

Pascal and the girl were sitting next to each other on a Delta Airlines flight, Oct. 26. The 14-year-old, whose identity has been withheld, told investigators that she woke up from a nap to find Pascal's hand beneath her, grabbing her buttocks, adding that the armrest dividing them that had been pushed down when she fell asleep was in the upright position. She reportedly elbowed Pascal and said, "What the hell are you doing?" according to AP.

Court documents indicate that Pascal pulled his hand back quickly and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was asleep, I have to use the bathroom."

The girl, shaken by the strange event and the fact that she was flying alone, talked to flight attendants who arranged to have her change seats.

According to the Standard, she said Pascal seemed fairly normal, even attentive earlier in the flight. He helped her get a blanket from the plane's crew, because she was on crutches. But after she moved away from him, she noticed he'd shoot her dirty looks every so often from his seat a few rows away.

Pascal's attorney said that the pilot fell asleep with his hands in his lap, and didn't remember where it was located when he woke up. He also stated that he'd moved the armrest separating him and the girl up because the man sitting next to him on the opposite side was getting too close.

"When he woke up, he realized he had kind of flopped over on the passenger next to him," Rhome Zabriskie told AP. "Any touching that occurred was inadvertent."

Zabriskie added that Pascal has a young daughter of his own, and was horrified about the incident and the charge. Pascal will appear in federal court Thursday in Salt Lake City for his hearing.