An American Airlines flight attendant allegedly recorded five underage girls using the plane's bathroom during incidents that occurred between January and September 2023.
NBC Boston identified Thursday's report identified the suspect as 37-year-old Estes Carter Thompson III when a 14-year-old girl was found with an iPhone taped to the toilet seat lid on a flight from Boston to Charlotte. He claimed to have discovered the suspect and pointed out that authorities have launched an investigation.
image show suspect in the incident.he's gone the work According to Queen City News, the airline said:
Estes Carter Thompson III was charged with attempted sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child sexual abuse images depicting a prepubescent minor. https://t.co/Kzw9YL4d25
— 13 Action News (@13abc) January 19, 2024
The victim claimed he was waiting to use the on-board toilet when Thompson told him he could use the first class toilet. She claimed the girl went into the bathroom to wash her hands briefly before using it, the NBC report continued.
While using the toilet, the victim noticed stickers on the underside of the toilet seat that read “Dunfunctioning food service,'' “Remove from service,'' and “Toilet seat is broken.'' I made it. Under these stickers she found a phone. After she found the device, she took a photo of her with her phone to show her parents. The victim told investigators that she went into the bathroom as soon as Thompson left.
The minor told his parents about the incident, who reported the information to other crew members. The father then confronted the suspect who re-entered the restroom.
video footage show An image of what looks like a red and white sticker secures the phone to the toilet seat, making it appear as if the phone's light is on.
Police met the suspect when the plane landed in Boston and found that his cell phone appeared to have been reset to factory settings. However, authorities reportedly found a sticker similar to the one allegedly seen in the bathroom tucked inside his suitcase.
Thompson's iCloud account allegedly contained recordings of victims aged 7, 9, 11 and 14, as well as photos of unaccompanied minors.
“Additionally, hundreds of AI-generated images of child pornography were allegedly stored in Thompson's iCloud account,” the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said. Said in a press release Thursday.
Thompson was arrested Thursday in Lynchburg, Virginia, and charged with attempted sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography, the agency said.
The 14-year-old's family has since filed a lawsuit over the incident, NBC Boston reported.
“How could this have been allowed to happen in the first place? This was not an isolated incident. If the allegations in the Justice Department's press release are true, then serial children filming girls on American Airlines for months on end. “There were sex lovers running around,” said Paul Llewellyn, the family's lawyer. Said outlet.
American Airlines said it is working with authorities to investigate the allegations.
