American Airlines flight attendant pleads not guilty to charges of recording young girls using plane lavatory

(Estes Carter Thompson III, mugshot, Image credit: Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority)

Yesterday in a Boston federal courtroom, an American Airlines flight attendant who was indicted in April for secretly recording a 14-year-old female passenger while she was using an airplane lavatory last September has pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, of Charlotte, North Carolina was indicted on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor. Thompson was arrested in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia, and has been in federal custody ever since. Yesterday, Thompson pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Background:  On September 2, 2023, while working as a flight attendant onboard an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Boston, Massachusetts, Thompson video-recorded or attempted to surreptitiously video-record a 14-year-old female passenger as she used the aircraft lavatory. Specifically, approximately midway through the flight, the minor victim got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to where she was seated. When the minor victim arrived at the lavatory it was occupied.

After the minor victim had been waiting a short time, Thompson allegedly approached her, told her that the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her toward first class. Before the minor victim entered the lavatory, Thompson allegedly told her that he needed to wash his hands and that the lavatory’s toilet seat was broken and briefly entered the lavatory.

Allegedly, after Thompson exited the lavatory, the minor victim entered and observed red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, that stated, “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” and “REMOVE FROM SERVICE,” and “SEAT BROKEN” was hand-written in black ink on one of the stickers. It is alleged that, beneath the red stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video. The minor victim used her phone to take a picture of the red stickers and the concealed iPhone she found in the lavatory before exiting, at which time Thompson allegedly re-entered it immediately.

According to court documents, when the girl returned to her seat, she informed her parents of what she saw and showed them the picture. The victim’s parents reported the matter to other flight attendants onboard who notified the plane’s Captain, who in turn notified law enforcement on the ground. It is alleged that the victim’s father confronted Thompson who, shortly thereafter, locked himself in the lavatory with his iPhone for three to five minutes prior to the flight’s descent. 

Upon the flight’s arrival at Boston’s Logan Airport, law enforcement observed that Thompson’s iPhone may have been restored to factory settings.

During a search of Thompson’s suitcase, officials recovered 11 “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” stickers, like those observed by the minor victim on the back of the toilet seat.

A search of Thompson’s iCloud account revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which Thompson recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft. The minor victims allegedly depicted in the surreptitious recordings were seven, nine, 11 and 14 years old at the time. Additionally, over 50 images of a nine-year-old unaccompanied minor were allegedly found in Thompson’s iCloud. The images included photos taken while the minor victim was seated in her seat pre-flight and close-ups of her face while sleeping. 

Police say that Thompson had recordings of four other girls — ages 7, 9, 11 and 14 — using aircraft lavatories, according to The Associated Press.

The family of the 14-year-old filed the first lawsuit in December 2023. According to the family, American Airlines “knew or should have known the flight attendant was a danger.”  A second lawsuit comes from the family of a 9-year-old – referred to in the lawsuit as Mary Doe – who was recorded on a flight from Texas to Los Angeles in January 2023.  ~ WBTV

All minor victims involved in this matter have been identified and their families contacted by law enforcement. It is further alleged that hundreds of images of AI-generated child pornography were also found stored on Thompson’s iCloud account. 

The charge of attempted sexual exploitation of children provides for a sentence of at least 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. The charge of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Both charges also provide for at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.

For more on the story, see the video below.

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(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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