Flight attendant who police say secretly recorded girls in airplane bathroom sentenced to 18.5 years

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Flight attendant who police say secretly recorded girls in airplane bathroom sentenced to 18.5 years

By LEAH WILLINGHAM and MICHAEL CASEY
Updated 6:08 PM EDT, July 23, 2025

BOSTON (AP) — 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 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 apologized in court Wednesday, describing his actions as “selfish, perverse and wrong.”

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/flight-attendant-bathroom-camera-sentenced-d3b09d28087cc5e127b45119bdef044a