Estes Carter Thompson III, a former American Airlines flight attendant, was sentenced to 18.5 years in prison for secretly filming minors in airplane restrooms. He pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation and child pornography charges. His actions involved recordings of five underage girls, aged 7 to 14, discovered on his iCloud account, which included explicit content. The case emerged after a 14-year-old girl found a hidden iPhone in a bathroom on a flight and reported it. Prosecutors emphasized the psychological damage caused to the victims and sought a longer sentence.
Prosecutors described how a former American Airlines flight attendant "robbed five young girls of their innocence and belief in the goodness of the world and the people they would encounter in it."
Thompson, 38, of North Carolina, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor, receiving an 18.5-year prison sentence.
Federal prosecutors revealed that Thompson's iCloud account contained videos of girls aged 7, 9, 11, and 14 using airplane restrooms, alongside AI-generated child sexual abuse images.
The case came to light when a 14-year-old girl noticed a concealed iPhone in an airplane bathroom and reported it to her parents, leading to Thompson's confrontation.
Collection
[
|
...
]