Flight Attendant Filmed Young Girls in Plane Toilets

A flight attendant who pleaded guilty to secretly filming young girls in plane toilets has been sentenced to 18-and-a-half years in prison in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.

Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was given sentences for charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography, and sentenced by District Judge Julia E. Kobick on Wednesday.

Thompson pleaded guilty in March to his charges after filming five young girls in the bathrooms of several American Airlines flights. He also filmed a sixth girl, ‘Minor F,’ asleep on a plane, according to the government’s sentencing memo. His charges over Minor F did not constitute child pornography.

Newsweek has contacted American Airlines and Thompson’s legal team via email outside of working hours for comment.

The Context

The government’s sentencing memo states that Thompson was caught on September 2, 2023, after ‘Minor A’ noticed an iPhone partially hidden by red ‘Inoperative Catering Equipment’ stickers inside of an airplane toilet she had just used.

Per the sentencing memo, ‘Minor A’ took a photo of the phone and reported it to her parents, who took it to the airline staff. Thompson was confronted, and his phone was seized when they landed in Boston. His phone was connected to his iCloud account, which revealed images of Minor A and four other children using airplane bathrooms, the sentencing memo says.

No victims in this suit can be named to protect their privacy.

What To Know

Thompson was arrested in Virginia in January 2024. The government’s sentencing memo against Thompson says there were five sets of videos from 2023 in his iCloud account showing children on different flights using the bathroom.

The memo details the psychological impact these videos had on the children. It states: “The victims’ parents’ descriptions of the ordeals their daughters have faced since learning how they were violated are heart-wrenching. Minor A’s parents describe how she is ‘not the same child’ anymore, and how her trust in adults and men in particular has been eviscerated.”

The parents of Minor E have said the experience “shattered” them, and that their child is “scared, hyper-aware of her surroundings, and profoundly distrustful of adults,” per the memo.

According to the memo, Thompson had worked on national airlines since 2011.

The prosecution said that Minor A “had the presence of mind well beyond her years to take a photograph of the phone that she noticed taped to the back of the toilet seat.” And said that without her action, it had “no doubt” Thomson would have continued his course of conduct.

Thompson’s legal team had attempted to dismiss the charges in October 2024, stating that the alleged images of a child in a bathroom did not constitute “sexually explicit conduct.”

What People Are Saying

Parents of Minor A victim impact statement: “The joy and innocence that once lit her face have been replaced by distance and caution. She didn’t just lose her innocence that day—she lost her sense of the world.”

Parents of Minor E victim impact statement: “No child, especially during their formative years, should be burdened with such a horrific truth. The innocence she once had has been stolen.”

What Happens Next

Thompson is to serve his sentence at FMC Butner prison in North Carolina.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual violence, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673, or contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) helpline via their website rainn.org.