7 days ago
American Airlines steward hit with huge prison sentence for secretly recording young girls in plane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant who secretly filmed multiple young girls using a plane lavatory will spend 18-and-a-half years behind bars.
Estes Carter Thompson was arrested in January of last year after a 14-year-old girl discovered he had set up a phone to record those inside the toilet.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing memo that this behavior had been going on for sometime, stretching back to January 2023.
Thompson, from Charlotte, North Carolina, would direct young girls to specific toilets on the aircraft, where he had set up 'a secret recording studio', the memo added.
He pleaded guilty to a count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor.
Federal prosecutors had sought a sentence of 20 years behind bars, with five years supervised release, his lawyer had recommended 15 years behind bars.
Judge Julia E. Kobick called his behavior 'appalling' and said his victims' 'innocence has been lost' because of him.
He apologized in on court Wednesday, describing his actions as 'selfish, perverse and wrong.'
He will serve his time inside FMC Butner in North Carolina. His lawyer said he intends to undergo sex offender-specific treatment.
Thompson was snared after the 14-year-old found his phone while on a flight in September 2023 from Charlotte to Boston.
Investigators said the young girl got up to use the main toilet but discovered it was occupied. Thompson then directed her to the first-class bathroom instead.
She told police that before she entered the bathroom, Thompson told her he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken.
After he left, the teen entered the bathroom and saw red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, officials said.
The stickers had words written in black ink and all caps saying 'inoperative catering equipment,' 'remove from service,' and 'seat broken.'
Thompson had crudely attempted to conceal his cell phone which was recording a video at the time. The girl took a picture of the stickers and phone before leaving.
The girl told her parents, and her father confronted Thompson, who locked himself in the lavatory with his phone before the flight's descent, investigators said.
The minor's parents also informed other flight attendants and the captain was notified.
When the flight landed, police said Thompson's phone may have been restored to factory settings while he was locked in the bathroom.
A search of Thompson's iCloud account uncovered four other cases of him recording minors using the lavatory on flights.
They had also found 50 images of a child who had flown as an unaccompanied minor in July of 2023.
Those included snaps of the girl sleeping, as well as hundreds of child sexual abuse images generated by an artificial intelligence.
American Airlines said following his arrest that Thompson was 'immediately withheld from service' and hadn't worked for the airline since the phone was discovered.
