A former American Airlines flight attendant has been ordered to spend nearly 20 years in prison for secretly filming underage girls in airplane bathrooms.
Estes Carter Thompson III was sentenced in a Boston courtroom on Wednesday to serve 18.5 years behind bars, followed by five years of supervised release, during which he must register as a sex offender and participate in a treatment program for sex offenders.
His sentence comes more than a year after he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor.
Prosecutors said that between January and September 2023, Este set up “a secret recording studio” in airplane lavatories by taping his cellphone under the lid of the toilet. He would then direct girls to use the restroom so that he could record them.
The illicit clips at the heart of the case were uncovered on Sept. 2, 2023, following a flight from Charlotte, N.C. to Boston. About halfway through the trip, a 14-year-old girl got up to use the bathroom closest to her seat, but it was already occupied, investigators said. She was then approached by Thompson, who escorted her to the first-class restroom, which he said was unattended.
When they arrived, Thompson allegedly told the girl he needed to wash his hands first, and then informed her the toilet seat was broken. Once inside the lavatory, she discovered an iPhone taped and hidden underneath the toilet lid.
Thompson was subsequently arrested and a search of his phone turned up images of other girls — ages 7, 9, 11 and 14 — using the restroom.
U.S. government attorneys said Thompson “robbed five young girls of their innocence and belief in the goodness of the world and the people they would encounter in it, instead leaving them with fear, mistrust, insecurity, and sadness.”
With News Wire Services
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