A TWISTED American Airlines flight attendant secretly filmed underage girls in air plane bathrooms by taping his phone to the seat.
Estes Carter Thompson III admitted to committing child exploitation by surreptitiously recording a 14-year-old girl on a flight in 2023. He affixed his iPhone to a toilet seat using tape for this purpose.
An investigation revealed that he had repeatedly filmed girls, one as young as seven.
He duped victims into thinking the toilet seat was broken as he hid his phone under maintenance stickers to film them.
The 37-year-old, residing in Charlotte, North Carolina, could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison. Following the discovery of hidden recordings and a collection of disturbing AI-generated child pornography videos, he appeared in court on Thursday.
Secret bathroom clips of girls ages 7, 9, 11, and 14 were located in his iCloud account and were all filmed on American Airline flights in 2023.
Investigators also unveiled a stash of AI-generated child pornography.
Disturbing photographs depict how the depraved flight attendant utilized warning stickers to feign broken toilet seats and fix his phone underneath the seat’s lid.
One picture shows the iPhone’s torch light shining next to the camera from the bottom of the “seat broken” sticker.
Prosecutors in Boston detailed how Thompson was eventually caught out in September 2023 on a flight destined for the city.
He escorted the 14-year-old to the bathroom in First Class when the main cabin one was occupied and asked the teen if he could enter first to wash his hands.
The flight attendant then casually told her that the toilet seat was “broken”.
But she quickly noticed Thompson’s poor attempt to conceal the phone behind red maintenance stickers and took photographs before returning to her seat to show her parents.
Prosecutors said her father confronted Thompson who then proceeded to cower in the bathroom, locking himself in and restore his phone to factory settings.
His colleagues had also been informed by the parents and the captain contacted law enforcement on the ground to be ready when the flight landed at Boston’s Logan Airport.
After launching an investigation into the creep, cops found more maintenance stickers in his suitcase and unveiled the trove of pornographic videos and other secret recordings on his iCloud.
The footage included the covert clips of four other underage girls and 50 pictures of an unaccompanied nine-year-old taken while she slept in her seat.
Prosecutors told the court on Thursday: “All minor victims involved in this matter have been identified and their families have been contacted by law enforcement.”
LOCKED UP
Thompson pleaded guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.
Such offences could get up respective sentences of 30 and 20 years behind bars.
However, after securing a plea deal, it is likely he will get between 15 and 20 years in jail for his crimes, according to The Boston Globe.
Thompson’s federal public defender, Scott Lauer told the outlet: “I expect the defense will seek a 15-year sentence.”
The twisted flight attendant may also be forced to pay $250,000 in damages.
Meanwhile the families of two of the victims have filed lawsuits against the airline for failing to protect passengers from their employees.
The 14-year-old’s family has accused American Airlines of negligence after it failed to take Thompson’s phone after it was discovered – a move they say will have stopped him from deleting evidence.
The relatives of the nine-year-old victim who was recorded in January 2023 has also sued the airline.
American Airlines first tried to blame the girl for using a toilet “she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”
The airline has since apologised for the response and axed the legal team that issued the comments.
Last May, the company told The New York Post: “We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously.”
Paul Llewellyn, whose law firm Lewis & Llewellyn represented the 14-year-old girl and another victim said: “We are pleased to hear 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.
“We commend the US Attorney’s Office for its work on the criminal case in bringing this felon to justice.”
Thompson will be sentenced on June 17.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to American Airlines for comment.
