Flight Attendant Who Secretly Recorded Girls In Airplane Bathrooms Gets 18 Years In Prison

BOSTON, MA — A former American Airlines flight attendant accused of recording a 14-year-old girl while she used the restroom on a Boston-bound flight was sentenced to 18 and a half years in federal prison.

Estes Carter Thomson III, 38, pleaded guilty in March to federal charges of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography.

In September 2023, a 14-year-old girl told an FBI agent she was waiting to use the restroom on an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston when Thomson encouraged her to use the first-class lavatory instead and then escorted her to it.

The teen "observed red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position," according to an affidavit penned by the FBI agent. "The stickers looked official" and the girl "assumed, based on Thompson’s statements to her, that the stickers were related to the toilet seat being broken and that the toilet was still in working order."

The girl "proceeded to partially undress, removing or pulling down her shorts and underwear, in order to utilize the toilet," the affidavit said, and when she was "done, she stood up, dressed, and turned to flush the toilet. When she turned, (she) then noticed that an iPhone was actually protruding out from underneath the red stickers."

The girl photographed the stickers and iPhone and showed the picture to her mother, according to the FBI agent.

The teen's father confronted Thompson and "demanded to see his phone," the affidavit said.

The father "saw the color drain out of Thompson’s face," it said. "Thompson responded that he did not know what (the girl's) father was talking about."

A Massachusetts State Trooper briefly interviewed Thompson after the flight landed and his iPhone and suitcase were seized by the FBI pending an application for a search warrant, the affidavit said.

The ensuing search turned up four instances of Thompson surreptitiously recording underage girls using the airline restrooms, the affidavit said. The children were 7, 11, 14 and 9 when Thompson recorded them, according to the FBI.