American Airlines flight attendant admits to filming girls using plane bathrooms
An American Airlines flight attendant from Charlotte pleaded guilty Thursday to charges involving his video-recording of girls in bathrooms on planes.
Federal agents arrested Estes Carter Thompson III in January 2024 after he was accused of trying to record a 14-year-old girl as she used a bathroom aboard a Charlotte-to-Boston flight in September 2023.
On Thompson’s iCloud account, agents found recordings of four other girls in bathrooms on flights, including ones from Charlotte to Kansas City, Missouri, and Denver, and from Orlando to Charlotte, according to a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in the District of Massachusetts.
Thompson pleaded guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography depicting a pre-pubescent minor, according to the plea agreement he signed Thursday.
The charges carry respective maximum sentences of 30 and 20 years in prison. Thompson remains in custody pending his June 17 sentencing, court records show.
Paul Llewelly is a San Francisco lawyer who has represented two of the girls in their civil lawsuits against American Airlines. He commended the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its work in the criminal case.
“We are pleased to hear that the American Airlines flight attendant who preyed on at least five young girls as they used the airplane bathroom has pled guilty for his depraved crimes,” Llewelly said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer.
When Thompson was arrested last year in Lynchburg, Virginia, American Airlines issued a statement to the Observer saying the airline immediately removed him from service and that he hadn’t worked since for AA.
“We take these allegations very seriously,” according to the statement. “They don’t reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people. We have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation as there is nothing more important than the safety and security of our customers and team.”
What happened on Charlotte-to-Boston flight
About midway through the Charlotte-to-Boston flight, the girl got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to her seat, according to court documents. When she arrived, the lavatory was occupied, court records show.
Thompson approached the girl as she waited, told her that the first-class lavatory was free and escorted her toward first class, prosecutors said.
Before the girl entered the lavatory Thompson allegedly told her he needed to wash his hands and that the lavatory’s toilet seat was broken, according to the news release. He briefly entered and then left the lavatory.
As the girl entered the lavatory, she noticed red stickers on the underside of the open toilet seat lid, according to court documents. The words “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT,” “REMOVE FROM SERVICE,” and “SEAT BROKEN” were written in black ink on one of the stickers, prosecutors said.
Beneath the stickers, prosecutors said, Thompson concealed his iPhone to record a video. The girl used her phone to take a picture of the stickers and the iPhone, according to court records.
After she left, Thompson immediately went back into the lavatory, prosecutors said.
Victim’s father confronts Charlotte flight attendant
The girl returned to her seat and told her parents what happened, according to the criminal complaint. She also showed them the picture, prosecutors said.
The girl’s parents reported the incident to other flight attendants on the plane. The flight attendants alerted the captain, who notified law enforcement on the ground, court records show.
The girl’s father confronted Thompson, who then locked himself in the lavatory with his iPhone for three to five minutes before the flight’s descent, according to the criminal complaint.
When the flight arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport, police found that Thompson’s iPhone may have been restored to factory settings, according to court records. A search of Thompson’s suitcase uncovered 11 “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” stickers, prosecutors said.
A search of Thompson’s iCloud account revealed four more instances between January and August 2023 of him recording a minor using a lavatory on a plane. The victims were 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old at the time, prosecutors said.
All of the victims were identified, and police contacted their families, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.