TSA Agents Fired For Scheming To Grope Attractive Male Passengers

Police say a screener at Denver International Airport conspired with a fellow agent to pat down the groins of men he found attractive.

By Wednesday, several men had come forward to authorities as potential victims, a spokesperson for the Denver District Attorney told BuzzFeed News.

Police are investigating, and once complete, their findings will be turned over to the DA to determine if charges should be filed.

A security screener at Denver International Airport schemed to pat down the groins of male passengers he found attractive, a Denver police report said.

The report which was first obtained by CBS 4, revealed the police investigation into possible unlawful sexual contact by Transportation Security Administration employees.

In a statement, the TSA said two employees have been fired following the "egregious and intolerable" allegations.

"All allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated by the agency. And when substantiated, employees are held accountable," the TSA said.

According to police, officers were called to the airport by a TSA supervisor in March following an internal investigation. The TSA first received an employee tip in November 2014 that a security screener was groping men.

The TSA told police that a male security screener would signal to a fellow agent when he saw a passenger he thought was attractive. The other agent would then indicate the passenger was female, instead of male, causing the scanning machine to record an "anomaly" in the genital area.

A TSA investigator caught the agent in action in one instance on Feb. 9.

"[The investigator] observed [the agent] conduct a pat down of the passenger's front groin and buttocks area with the palms of his hands, which is contradictory to TSA searching policy," the police report said.

The TSA was only able to identify the man as a Southwest Airlines passenger. Authorities have video of the incident, but it has not been publicly released.

With no identifiable victim, prosecutors declined to pursue the case because there was "no reasonable likelihood of conviction."

The agent who helped the security screener arrange the pat downs said she had helped him about 10 times in the past, according to the police report.

The TSA's acting administrator Melvin J. Carraway later wrote in a blog post that the incidents had tarnished the reputation of the agency. But he added he was glad a fellow TSA employee had brought attention of the unacceptable actions to supervisors.

"The vast majority of our employees act with the utmost integrity and professionalism every day, but unfortunately the conduct of a few can do significant damage to the entire workforce – and this damage is very difficult to overcome," Carraway wrote. "We are committed to working very hard to prove ourselves to the public we serve in the months ahead to regain your trust."

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