‘I FROZE’

‘Sick of It’: Kidnapping and Rape Survivor Elizabeth Smart Says She Was Sexually Assaulted on Flight

“The last time someone touched me without my say-so was when I was kidnapped, and I froze,” she said.

Elizabeth Smart, a kidnapping survivor and child safety activist, said Thursday that she was sexually assaulted on an airplane last year while she was sleeping. The 32-year-old mother of three said on CBS News This Morning that she was asleep during the flight when the man next to her began rubbing her inner thigh with his hand. “The last time someone touched me without my say-so was when I was kidnapped, and I froze,” she said. Smart added that the man said nothing and she later reported the attack to authorities, as she wants to prevent the man from preying on others. “I called up my husband and I was like, ‘Do I just have a big badge on my forehead that says ‘Easy Prey’ or ‘Victim?’” Smart said. “Because I’m sick of it.” Her spokesman, Chris Thomas, said the attack happened July 19 on a Delta Air Lines flight and the alleged assault is being investigated by the FBI and Delta. 

Smart was kidnapped at knifepoint when she was 14-years-old from her Salt Lake City, Utah, home in 2002 by Brian David Mitchell. He and his wife, Wanda Barzee, held Smart captive for nine months until police rescued her on a street in Sandy, Utah, 18 miles from her home. Smart was repeatedly raped, tied up, and threatened with murder if she tried to escape. “We took the matter seriously and have continued to cooperate with Ms. Smart and the appropriate authorities as the matter is investigated,” Delta said in a statement.