A former flight attendant for American Airlines has been sentenced to 18.5 years in federal prison for secretly recording minor female passengers in aircraft lavatories. Estes Carter Thompson III, 38, from Charlotte, North Carolina, received the sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick and will also serve five years of supervised release.
In March 2025, Thompson pleaded guilty to charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley commented on the case: “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.”
The investigation revealed that Thompson recorded or attempted to record a 14-year-old girl using the lavatory during a flight from Charlotte to Boston on September 2, 2023. The girl reported the incident after noticing Thompson’s iPhone attached under the toilet seat lid with red “INOPERATIVE EQUIPMENT” stickers.
Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, stated: “Estes Carter Thompson thought he had a no-fail plan to sexually exploit children for his own gratification, until a brave 14-year-old girl thwarted his plan.”
Further investigations uncovered four additional recordings made by Thompson involving minor females aged six to fourteen on different flights between January and August 2023.
Colonel Geoffrey Noble praised the quick actions taken by law enforcement at Logan Airport upon learning about the incident: “When this disturbing incident came to our attention, Troopers assigned to Logan Airport took immediate action.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna J. Nuzum prosecuted the case under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation.
