A former American Airlines flight attendant was handed an 18.5-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography. Estes Carter Thompson III, 38, of Charlotte, N.C., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick and will also face five years of supervised release following his prison term, as per reports from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, as detailed in a statement released yesterday, indicated Thompson betrayed a position of trust. "Mr. Thompson took advantage of his position of trust as a flight attendant to exploit innocent children – directing them to an aircraft bathroom he had set up to record them and then revisiting those videos for his own sexual gratification," Foley asserted. According to the justice.gov report, the acts perpetrated by Thompson left the child victims with a shattered sense of safety and trust in their surroundings.
The disturbing activities of Thompson came to light after a vigilant 14-year-old girl reported suspicious behavior during a flight from Charlotte to Boston. The former flight attendant had used red “INOPERATIVE EQUIPMENT” stickers to attach his iPhone under the toilet seat lid in the lavatory to record unsuspecting minors. The girl's alertness allowed her family and the flight crew to take immediate action against Thompson, who subsequently attempted to delete evidence by restoring his phone to factory settings.
The investigation that followed uncovered that Thompson had recorded minors on multiple flights between January and August of 2023. A search of Thompson's iCloud account revealed additional instances of surreptitious recordings involving minor females, ages six, nine, 11, and 14. These videos were similarly shot to capture the minors' genitalia. Furthermore, law enforcement found more than 50 images of a nine-year-old child and hundreds of AI-generated images depicting child sexual abuse on Thompson's account. All minors involved have been identified and their families contacted by law enforcement, as told by sources from the Massachusetts State Police and FBI.
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, Ted E. Docks, highlighted the courage of the young girl who exposed Thompson's actions. “This flight attendant’s disgraceful actions robbed five young girls of their innocence and caused significant pain and trauma that will likely be felt by these victims and their families for years to come. No sentence can ever make up for that but know the FBI and our partners are committed to protecting our most vulnerable from predators like him,” Docks commented in the announcement. The case was prosecuted as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a DOJ initiative aimed at combating child exploitation and abuse across the country. For more information on the initiative, interested individuals can visit the provided link to the Department of Justice's official site.
