A flight attendant from American Airlines arrested for allegedly filming girls in a plane bathroom

A former American Airlines flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, from Charlotte, N.C., was arrested in Lynchburg, Va., on Thursday, facing charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography. Thompson allegedly secretly recorded video footage of at least five different girls using the lavatory on American Airlines flights. The U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Massachusetts reported that Thompson’s arrest came after investigators found evidence indicating that he had attempted to record a 14-year-old girl on an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Boston on September 2, 2023.

The charging documents revealed that during the flight, Thompson escorted the teenager to the first-class lavatory, claiming he needed to wash his hands and fix the broken toilet seat. However, before the girl entered the bathroom, she noticed red stickers on the underside of the open toilet seat lid with handwritten notes reading “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT,” “REMOVE FROM SERVICE,” and “SEAT BROKEN.” Upon closer inspection, she found a concealed iPhone recording a video beneath the red stickers. The girl took a photo of the display and reported it to her parents and other flight attendants.

When the girl’s father confronted Thompson, he locked himself in a bathroom with his iPhone for several minutes before the flight landed. Law enforcement officers approached Thompson upon arrival at Logan International Airport in Boston and examined his phone, finding that it had been restored to factory settings. A subsequent search of Thompson’s suitcase revealed 11 “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” stickers. Further investigation into Thompson’s iCloud account indicated that he had recorded four other young girls, aged 7 to 14, using lavatories on American Airlines flights between January and August 2023. The search also uncovered hundreds of images depicting child sexual abuse generated by artificial intelligence and over 50 images of a 9-year-old girl taken by Thompson while she was sleeping.

American Airlines issued a statement expressing the seriousness with which they view the allegations and announced that Thompson’s employment was terminated in September 2023. The airline emphasized that such actions do not reflect their values or commitment to the safety and security of customers and staff. The statement also conveyed full cooperation with law enforcement in the investigation.

The case against Thompson is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. If found guilty, Thompson could face up to 30 years in prison for attempted sexual exploitation of children and up to 20 years for possession of child pornography. Both charges carry the possibility of a lifetime of supervision upon release and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Jodi Cohen, the special agent in charge of the FBI Boston field office, emphasized the seriousness of the allegations and highlighted the FBI’s commitment to taking crimes aboard aircraft and child sexual exploitation seriously. Cohen stated that Thompson had repeatedly targeted unsuspecting children to sexually exploit them for personal gratification.