JetBlue Pilot Arrested on Child Sex Charge Before Beginning Boston-to-Paris Flight

A JetBlue pilot was arrested while preparing for a flight from Boston’s Logan International Airport to Paris on Thursday, Feb. 20, after officials found an active warrant for his arrest in North Carolina.

Jeremy Gudorf, 33, of Ohio was arrested on the plane Thursday evening by Massachusetts State Police. After U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducted a “standard review” of the flight’s manifest, they discovered a warrant “lodged against a member of the flight crew who was detained,” a state police spokesperson told NBC News.

Gudorf was arraigned in East Boston District Court Friday, reports NBC Boston and WCVB. Prosecutors said the North Carolina warrant was on a charge of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. He was also charged in Massachusetts as a fugitive from justice, per NBC Boston.

Prosecutors asked for Gudorf to be held without bail and to surrender his passport.

“He does have the financial capacity to rent a car and drive to North Carolina,” Gudorf’s defense attorney, Tanvi Verma, said, per WCVB. “He has assured me he will do that.” His attorney also told the court he had no prior criminal history, per NBC Boston.

“Frankly, there is no running away from this case, judge. He’s perfectly aware of that,” Verma said, per WMUR. “These are serious charges. The news is here. He’s not going to be able to just run away from this.”

While the judge did not take Gudorf’s passport, he was ordered to be held on $10,000 bail. He was also ordered to return to North Carolina by Feb. 25. A court date in Massachusetts is scheduled for March 19, however, that will be waived if he clears the warrant.

The specifics of his case in North Carolina were not discussed in court Friday, per NBC Boston. The warrant was based in Huntersville, N.C., where Gudorf once lived.

The Huntersville Police Department said in a statement Friday that it received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in October 2024. After an investigation, they obtained a search warrant for Google “leading to the identification of the source of the reported images,” police said.

“Late last year, Google complied with the warrant and provided the necessary records to law enforcement,” the Huntersville police said. “Based on the evidence gathered, HPD investigators secured an arrest warrant for Mr. Gudorf on charges of Second-Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.”

“As public defenders, it is our responsibility to ensure that every single one of our clients is presumed innocent, and treated accordingly, until proven otherwise by the state,” Verma said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Every defendant is entitled to that presumption and to a zealous defense in court by law, regardless of the charges against them.”

JetBlue said in a statement to multiple outlets that Gudorf was placed on “indefinite leave.”

“We are aware of and closely reviewing the arrest of one of our pilots upon reporting for work at Boston’s Logan Airport Thursday evening due to an outstanding warrant,” the airline’s statement read. “The pilot has been placed on indefinite leave as law enforcement proceeds with the matter.”