An American Airlines flight attendant was arrested in Virginia on Thursday by federal agents who accused him of recording young girls in airplane bathrooms, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts announced.
Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, has been charged with sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor. He was caught in September by a 14-year-old girl he attempted to record in the bathroom, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by HuffPost, Thompson approached the girl while on a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Boston.
Thompson noticed the girl was waiting outside the plane’s lavatory, then offered for her the first-class lavatory and escorted her there. Thompson then went into the lavatory before the girl, stating he had to wash his hands, and when he came out, he told her the toilet seat was broken.
According to the affidavit, the 14-year-old “felt that the amount of time” he was in the lavatory seemed “a little long for simply washing his hands.”
The girl saw red stickers underneath the toilet seat lid with handwritten words that stated “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” and “REMOVE FROM SERVICE,” and “SEAT BROKEN,” according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, when the 14-year-old turned to flush the toilet, she noticed an iPhone peeking out from behind the stickers. The girl took a photo of the iPhone and the stickers before leaving, and Thompson allegedly entered the bathroom immediately after she exited.
The girl showed her parents a photo of the hidden iPhone when she returned to her seat, per the affidavit. Her mother rushed to the lavatory to find the stickers and iPhone gone.
Agents said her father confronted…
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