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A flight attendant has been charged after police mentioned he tried to secretly file video of a 14-year-old lady utilizing an airplane toilet.
Police have additionally alleged that American Airways employee Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, of Charlotte, North Carolina, had recordings of 4 different women utilizing bathrooms on an plane the place he labored.
Thompson was indicted on one depend of tried sexual exploitation of kids and one depend of possession of photographs of kid sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor.
Thompson was charged and arrested in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He has been in federal custody since. A lawyer for Thompson mentioned after the indictment by a federal grand jury that he was unable to remark.
Investigators mentioned that about halfway by a September 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston, the 14-year-old acquired up to make use of the principle cabin toilet nearest to her seat however discovered it was occupied.
Thompson then instructed her the first-class toilet was unoccupied and escorted her there, investigators mentioned.
Earlier than she entered the lavatory, Thompson allegedly instructed her he wanted to scrub his arms and that the bathroom seat was damaged, they mentioned.
After he left, the teenager entered the lavatory and he or she noticed crimson stickers on the underside of the bathroom seat lid, which was within the open place, officers mentioned.
Beneath the stickers, Thompson had hid his iPhone to file a video, investigators mentioned. The lady used her telephone to take an image of the stickers and hid iPhone earlier than leaving.
Prosecutors additionally allege a whole lot of photographs of kid sexual abuse generated by synthetic intelligence have been discovered saved on Thompson’s iCloud account.
Tried sexual exploitation of kids carries a sentence of 15-30 years in jail, whereas possessing photographs of sexual abuse of a prepubescent minor can imply as much as 20 years in jail.
Each prices additionally present for no less than 5 years and as much as a lifetime of supervised launch, a fantastic of as much as $250,000 and restitution.
American Airways beforehand issued an announcement saying the flight attendant was “instantly withheld from service” and hasn’t labored for the reason that telephone was found.
A search of Thompson’s iCloud account revealed 4 further situations between January and August 2023 wherein Thompson recorded a minor utilizing the rest room on an plane, in accordance with investigators.
These depicted within the recordings have been 7, 9, 11 and 14 years previous on the time, they mentioned. Their households have been contacted by police, investigators mentioned.
