Former Hawaii House minority leader Galen Fox will serve three years of probation for groping a woman as she slept on an airline flight.
He is also being required to register as a sex offender.
He was convicted of abusive sexual conduct, a misdemeanor. The veteran politician could have been sentenced to up to six months in jail.
A 27-year-old woman said Mr Fox awoke her by reaching over to touch her during a five-hour United Airlines flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles late last year.
The victim wrote a letter saying she had trouble sleeping and had nightmares since the incident.
“I brought this case because I had the right to sleep on a plane without being groped,” she said.
Mr Fox resigned his position after a nine-year career in state government.
Report by David Wilkening
