A Gold Coast executive, Jason Goss, has denied allegations of committing an indecent act against a female passenger on a Virgin flight from Perth to Sydney. Goss, a director of Goss Corporation Pty Ltd and John Goss Projects Pty Ltd, stated he was asleep for the entirety of the flight, VA572, which arrived in Sydney early Tuesday morning.
Australian Federal Police arrested Goss, 64, at Sydney Airport shortly after the flight landed at 6:27 a.m. He was charged with committing an indecent act without consent, an offense carrying a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment. The alleged incident occurred between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.
Goss told the Daily Mail that he had boarded the flight just before midnight on Monday and had received an upgrade to business class. He said he apologized to the woman next to him before falling asleep, anticipating he might snore.
"As soon as I hopped on the flight, I was totally asleep," Goss stated. He explained that he had been in Perth to assist his fiancée in settling into her new apartment for her doctoral studies, which involved manual labor and shopping. He described himself as exhausted from the weekend's activities, usually retiring by 9:30 or 10 p.m.
When asked about the specifics of the police allegations, Goss declined to comment directly, stating his intention to seek legal counsel to understand the exact charges. "No matter what, I will be defending it because I was totally asleep," he asserted.
Following his arrest, Goss spent Tuesday at Mascot police station and the following night in Surry Hills police cells. He was granted bail on Wednesday by Bail Court Division 7. The conditions of his bail include residing at his Palm Beach address and having no contact with the alleged victim or prosecution witnesses, except through a legal representative.
Goss has since returned to the Gold Coast. He is scheduled to appear next in Downing Centre Local Court via audio-visual link on August 25. The Goss Group, founded in 1970 by John Goss, is an electrical contracting company with offices across Queensland and Sydney, employing up to 300 people at peak times.
Detective Acting Superintendent James McMillan of the AFP emphasized that all passengers have the right to feel safe on aircraft and that inappropriate behavior is unacceptable. He encouraged anyone who experiences or witnesses such conduct to report it to airline staff or police promptly.