In a shocking incident, a flight attendant from American Airlines was arrested in US’ Virginia on Thursday by federal agents for recording young girls in aeroplane bathrooms.
The man, identified as Estes Carter Thompson III is 36 years old. He has been charged with sexual exploitation of children and having child pornography. The incident happened in September 2023 when a 14-year-old girl caught Thompson trying to record her in the bathroom.
Here's how the horrific incident unfolded:
As per reports, Thompson approached the girl during a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Boston. He saw her waiting outside the bathroom, so he offered her to use the first-class bathroom and took her there. He said he needed to wash his hands and went in before her. When he came out, he told her the toilet was broken. But she noticed some weird stickers under the toilet seat lid saying stuff like “Inoperative catering equipment” and “Remove from service” and “Seat Broken”.
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When she tried to flush the toilet, she saw an iPhone hidden behind the stickers. She took a picture of it and showed it to her parents.
Girl's parents confront Thompson
When her parents confronted Thompson and asked to show his phone, the flight attendant locked himself in the bathroom and stayed there till the flight landed.
When the police checked Thompson's phone, they couldn't find anything because he had wiped it clean. But they found some video clips on his iCloud, showing he recorded young girls in the bathroom at least four times.
Shocking details emerge
The girls he recorded were between 7 and 14 years old, and some of the pictures showed one of the girls sleeping. They also found stickers like the ones the girl saw, in Thompson's suitcase. American Airlines says they're taking this really seriously and are helping with the investigation. Thompson hasn't been working for them since September, and they say they're cooperating with the authorities.
A lawyer representing the 14-year-old's family says this should never have happened, and they're hoping the airline takes responsibility for what happened.
