BOSTON (AP/Boston 25) — A flight attendant accused of taping his cellphone to the lid of an airplane toilet to secretly film young girls was sentenced to just under 20 years in prison Wednesday.
Former American Airlines flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III received a sentence of 18.5 years, followed by five years of supervised release. Boston U.S. District Court Judge Julia Kobick called his behavior “appalling” and said the child victims’ “innocence has been lost” because of his actions.
Thompson was arrested and charged in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia, after authorities said a 14-year-old girl on his flight discovered his secret recording setup in the lavatory.
He was indicted last year on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child sexual abuse images depicting a prepubescent minor. He admitted to the allegations earlier this year.
He apologized in court Wednesday, describing his actions as “selfish, perverse, and wrong.”
Police alleged Thompson, of Charlotte, North Carolina, had recordings of four other girls between the ages of 7 and 14 using aircraft lavatories over a 9-month period.
U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley previously said one incident involved a 14-year-old girl who was recorded as she used an airplane bathroom on a flight from Charlotte to Boston on Sept. 2, 2023.
Thompson told the victim that he needed to wash his hands, and that the lavatory’s toilet seat was broken, and briefly entered the lavatory, according to federal investigators. After Thompson exited the lavatory, the victim entered and observed red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, that stated, “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” and “REMOVE FROM SERVICE,” and “SEAT BROKEN” was hand-written in black ink on one of the stickers.
Beneath the red stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video, investigators said.
In a sentencing memorandum submitted in court, 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.”
Thompson, who will serve his sentence at FMC Butner in North Carolina, intends to undergo sex offender-specific treatment, his attorneys said.
A lawyer for Thompson said via email Wednesday he wouldn’t be commenting.
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