Flight Attendant Accused of Putting Camera in Bathroom

Estes Thompson is alleged to have recordings of female minors aboard aircrafts. (Boston 25)

An American Airlines flight attendant has been arrested after authorities said he taped an iPhone to a toilet in the bathroom to record a teenage girl on a Boston-bound flight.

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Estes Thompson III, 37, also allegedly recorded four other minor female passengers using the restroom aboard the airplane where he worked previously. Some of the girls were as young as 7 years old, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Thompson was arrested in Lynchburg, Virginia, per reports.

He has been charged with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children. In addition, he was charged with one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

Boston 25 News reports:

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, authorities said. The minor victims allegedly depicted in the recordings were seven, nine, 11 and 14 years old at the time.

Additionally, over 50 images of a nine-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.

It is further alleged that hundreds of images of AI-generated child pornography were also found stored on Thompson’s iCloud account.

“The deeply disturbing conduct alleged here is something no parent or child should ever have to worry about when they travel. 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,” Acting U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said in a statement. “Everyone – especially children – should feel safe and secure as airline passengers, and parents should feel comfortable traveling with their children. Protecting children is a paramount priority for this office and we will aggressively investigate and hold accountable people who victimize children.”

Arresting documents detailed the allegations against Thompson.

“Specifically, approximately midway through the flight, the minor victim got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to where she was seated,” it read. “When the minor victim arrived at the lavatory it was occupied. After the minor victim had been waiting a short time, Thompson allegedly approached her, told her that the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her toward first class,” according to the charging documents.

“Before the minor victim entered the lavatory, Thompson allegedly told her that he needed to wash his hands and that the lavatory’s toilet seat was broken and 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,” according to the charging documents. “It is alleged that, beneath the red stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video. The minor victim used her phone to take a picture of the red stickers and the concealed iPhone she found in the lavatory before exiting, at which time Thompson allegedly re-entered it immediately.”

Estes Thompson is alleged to have recordings of female minors aboard aircrafts. (Boston 25)

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