A former American Airlines flight attendant could spend decades behind bars after authorities allegedly found several secret recordings of minors using the airplane lavatories on his phone.
Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, of North Carolina was arrested and charged on Thursday with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
The charges stem from an incident aboard an American Airlines flight on September 2, 2023, from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston, Massachusetts. The suspect was working as a flight attendant at the time and allegedly directed a 14-year-old girl who had to use the restroom to the first-class lavatory. While inside, she spotted an iPhone hidden on the underside of the toilet seat lid. She snapped photos of the setup and alerted her parents once she returned to her seat. Her parents informed the flight crew.
The father of the teen confronted Thompson before the flight landed, resulting in the latter locking himself in one of the bathrooms. After the authorities took Thompson into custody at Logan Airport in Boston, they searched his phone and noticed that it had been restored to factory settings.
A subsequent examination of Thompson’s iCloud account allegedly led to the discovery of secret recordings of four minors using aircraft lavatories, as well as hundreds of images of AI-generated child pornography. The four girls, who ranged in age from 7 to 14, were identified, and their parents were notified.
The suspect was arrested in Lynchburg, Virginia, and will have his first court appearance in the Western District of Virginia. He will be tried in federal court in Boston.
Thompson is no longer employed by American Airlines, which, according to the company, has been “fully cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation,” per USA Today.
“[The allegations against Thompson] do not reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people,” the airline commented.
Thompson could face several decades in federal prison if found guilty.
“The deeply disturbing conduct alleged here is something no parent or child should ever have to worry about when they travel,” said Joshua S. Levy, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, in the news release. “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.”
“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,” Levy added.
Across North Texas, an alarming number of criminal cases involving child sex abuse and child pornography have come to light this past year. A hospital chaplain, a city council candidate, a Texas A&M administrator, and a worrisome number of educators and other school personnel entrusted with being around children have been identified as alleged child predators, as covered by The Dallas Express.
In Dallas, a total of 21 sex crimes have already been logged in 2024 as of January 18, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard. The vast majority of these and last year’s victims — totaling 751 — were black or Hispanic, with a median age of 16.
Meanwhile, DPD has been dealing with a longstanding staffing shortage, with only 3,000 officers in its ranks despite a City report calling for 4,000. The department was recently budgeted $654 million by the Dallas City Council, which is significantly less than what is spent by its high-crime municipal counterparts in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
