The former American Airlines flight attendant who was accused of filming a girl in a plane’s bathroom on a Boston-bound flight has pleaded guilty to the federal charges.
Estes Carter Thompson III, of Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday in Massachusetts court pleaded guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of children, and possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.
Thompson is set to face 15 to 20 years in prison under the plea agreement. Sentencing will occur on June 17.
Thompson was arrested last year in connection with secretly recording a 14-year-old girl on a flight to Boston.
He also allegedly had recordings of four other girl passengers using airplane lavatories.
“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,” said Paul Llewellyn, of the law firm Lewis & Llewellyn LLP, which has represented two of his victims in their civil lawsuits against American Airlines.
“We commend the US Attorney’s Office for its work on the criminal case in bringing this felon to justice,” he added.
The 14-year-old girl during the flight from Charlotte to Boston had found a concealed iPhone in the first-class bathroom after she had partially undressed and used the toilet, according to the FBI Boston’s affidavit for the case.
Before the girl went to the bathroom, she had been waiting to use the main cabin bathroom when Thompson allegedly told her that the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and that she could use it. Thompson also told her that before she could go in, he had to wash his hands. He also said the toilet seat was broken.
Then when the girl entered the bathroom, she saw red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which stated, “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” and “REMOVE FROM SERVICE,” and “SEAT BROKEN” was hand-written in black ink on one of the stickers. Beneath the red stickers, Thompson had allegedly concealed his iPhone to record a video.
When the girl was done using the bathroom, she stood up, dressed, and turned to flush the toilet. When she turned, she noticed that an iPhone was protruding out from underneath the red stickers, and the flash of the iPhone was illuminated.
The girl took a photo of the concealed iPhone and told her parents what happened. The girl was reportedly “visibly shaking” when she told another flight attendant about the incident, according to the FBI affidavit.
The girl’s father confronted Thompson, who then reportedly locked himself in the lavatory with his iPhone for three to five minutes before the flight’s descent into Boston.
Police on the ground at Logan Airport reported that his iPhone may have been restored to factory settings. Also, police found 11 “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” stickers in Thompson’s suitcase.
A search of Thompson’s iCloud account allegedly revealed four other instances of him recording a girl using the lavatory on an aircraft. The minor victims allegedly depicted in the recordings were seven, nine, 11 and 14 years old at the time.
In addition, more than 50 images of a 9-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.