An American Airlines flight attendant who was arrested on charges of trying to secretly film a teenage girl using an airplane lavatory during a September 2023 flight to Boston has pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography.
Estes Carter Thompson III of Charlotte reached a plea agreement with prosecutors on Thursday after initially pleading not guilty to the crimes and now faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison, along with a fine of up to $250,000.
The 36-year-old suspect was formally arrested and charged in January 2024 following an extensive investigation into the horrifying incident when the young victim found a mobile phone hidden inside an airplane lavatory.
According to prosecutors, Thompson was working as a flight attendant on a September 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston when he approached the 14-year-old victim who was lining up to use the bathroom at the back of the aircraft.
Thompson invited the victim to use the lavatory in First Class and escorted her to the front of the plane.
Before letting the victim use the lavatory, however, Thompson entered the bathroom for a short while with the doors closed. When the victim was eventually allowed to use the lavatory, she found a large ‘defective catering equipment’ sticker taped to the lavatory seat.
The victim became suspicious and looked underneath the sticker. Concealed under the sticker was an Apple iPhone with the camera peeping out.
The victim took a photo of the hidden camera and showed it to her parents, who confronted Thompson. As the flight was approaching Boston, Thompson allegedly locked himself in the lavatory, where he reset his phone to factory setting in an attempt to wipe any photo evidence.
Forensic experts were, however, able to retrieve photos from Thompson’s iCloud and allegedly found photos depicting victims aged just seven, nine, 11, and 14 using an airplane bathroom.
Additionally, over 50 images of a nine-year-old unaccompanied minor were allegedly found in the same account.
The charge of sexual exploitation of a child comes with a minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment, up to a maximum of 30 years. The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.
All the victims have been identified and contacted by law enforcement. The parents of a nine-year-old victim have filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, accusing the Fort Worth-based carrier of negligence.
In response, a law firm hired by American Airlines tried to get the case dismissed by arguing the young girl was to blame as she should have known she was being secretly recorded.
American Airlines was accused of ‘victim blaming’ over the defence, and the airline quickly distanced itself from the document, explaining that the law firm had been brought in by AA’s insurance company.
The airline eventually dismissed the law firm responsible for filing this defense, although attorneys acting on behalf of American Airlines are still contesting lawsuits from several victims, arguing that the airline can’t be held responsible for the criminal actions of a former employee
