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A former airline pilot and his one-time girlfriend were convicted of child sexual abuse, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
Florida resident Rustom Bhagwagar, 35, a former pilot for Delta Airlines who used to live in San Ramon, was arrested at the San Francisco International Airport in July 2025 by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and was held on $15 million bail. He was charged with 24 felonies related to the repeated sex abuse of a young girl.
The criminal case against Bhagwagar and co-defendant Jennifer Spitz Powell, 46, was handled by two separate juries, prosecutors said. Powell, a current Walnut Creek resident, grew up in the San Ramon Valley and was listed as an Alamo resident at the time of her arrest.
A jury found Powell guilty on Monday, and another jury found Bhagwagar guilty on Tuesday. Both were convicted of eight counts of sex abuse on a child under 10 years of age and 12 counts of forcible lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14.
Evidence presented to both juries showed that the sexual abuse of the victim began when she was 7 years old and occurred from 2017 to 2022.
Powell, who was in a relationship with Bhagwagar, participated with him in numerous acts of abuse against the victim, according to prosecutors.
Bhagwagar and Powell each face a maximum sentence of 230 years to life in state prison and will be sentenced at a future date, the District Attorney’s Office said.
“This young survivor showed extraordinary courage by testifying in court and facing the people who used duress to harm her,” District Attorney Diana Becton said in a statement released by her office. “These verdicts hold both defendants accountable.”
– Story by Katy St. Clair, Bay City News Story. DanvilleSanRamon.com associate publisher Jeremy Walsh contributed localized information.
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