‘DEEPLY DISTURBING’ MID-AIR CHARGE
Flight attendant accused of recording girls in bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant has been arrested for allegedly trying to secretly record a 14-yearold girl using the aircraft’s bathroom on a flight to Boston, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The 37-year-old man, Estes Carter Thompson III, of Charlotte, N.C., is also accused of having recordings of four other girl passengers using aircraft lavatories from previous flights.
The FBI arrested Thompson in Virginia yesterday.
“The deeply disturbing conduct alleged here is something no parent or child should ever have to worry about when they travel,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “Mr. Thompson allegedly used his position to prey on and surreptitiously record innocent children, including unaccompanied minors, while in a vulnerable state aboard flights he was working.
“Everyone — especially children — should feel safe and secure as airline passengers, and parents should feel comfortable traveling with their children,” Levy added. “Protecting children is a paramount priority for this office and we will aggressively investigate and hold accountable people who victimize children.”
Thompson was charged with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.
Thompson will remain in custody pending his initial appearance in the Western District of Virginia. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
“Today, the FBI arrested Estes Carter Thompson III after he repeatedly targeted unsuspecting children to sexually exploit them for his own gratification,” said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division. “What Mr. Thompson is accused of doing is disgraceful, and we believe, calculated, given that this alleged conduct occurred on at least five flights.
“This case should make it crystal clear that the FBI takes crimes aboard aircraft and the sexual exploitation of children seriously,” Cohen added. “If you’ve been the victim of a crime aboard an aircraft or have witnessed one take place, we ask you to report it to both your flight crew and the FBI.”
According to the charging documents, Thompson was working as a flight attendant onboard an American Airlines flight from Charlotte to Boston on Sept. 2, 2023.
About midway through the flight, the alleged victim got up to use the main cabin bathroom nearest to where she was seated. When the girl arrived at the lavatory, it was occupied.
After she had been waiting for a short time, Thompson allegedly approached her and told her that the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her toward first class. Then before the girl entered the bathroom, Thompson allegedly told her that he needed to wash his hands and that the lavatory’s toilet seat was broken, and he briefly entered the lavatory.
“It is alleged that, 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,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote.
Beneath the red stickers, Thompson allegedly concealed his iPhone to record a video. The girl used her phone to take a picture of the red stickers and the concealed iPhone she found in the lavatory before exiting. Then Thompson allegedly re-entered the bathroom.
When the girl returned to her seat, she told her parents what she saw and showed them the picture. The girl’s parents reported the matter to other flight attendants onboard who notified the captain — who then alerted law enforcement on the ground.
The girl’s father confronted Thompson, who then 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 Logan, law enforcement saw that Thompson’s iPhone may have been restored to factory settings. Police searched his suitcase and allegedly found 11 “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” stickers.
Also, a search of Thompson’s iCloud account allegedly revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which Thompson recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft. The girls allegedly depicted in the secret recordings were 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old.
More than 50 images of a 9-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.
Hundreds of images of AI-generated child pornography were also found stored on Thompson’s iCloud account.