Flight Attendant From Charlotte Arrested For Allegedly Filming Minors In Aircraft Bathroom

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A 37-year-old American Airlines flight attendant has been arrested for allegedly secretly filming minor female passengers using the aircraft bathroom on multiple occasions.

Estes Carter Thompson, from Charlotte, was arrested in Lynchburg, Virginia on Thursday, January 18th. He was charged with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

On September 2nd, 2023 while working as a flight attendant on a flight from Charlotte to Boston, Thompson allegedly secretly recorded a 14-year-old girl using the aircraft bathroom.

The victim left her seat to use the nearest bathroom when Thompson told her that the first-class bathroom was unoccupied. Thompson allegedly entered the bathroom before the victim and told her that he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken.

Once the victim entered the bathroom, she noticed red stickers on the underside of the toilet lid and later allegedly found a concealed iPhone underneath the red stickers set to record a video.

The victim alerted her parents who told other flight attendants who reported the claim to the Captain who informed law enforcement on the ground. Thompson later allegedly locked himself in the first-class bathroom to factory reset his iPhone.

Further investigation into Thompson’s iCloud account revealed that he allegedly recorded four additional minor victims – ages seven, nine, 11 and 14 years old – between January and August of 2023.

Documents say that Thompson’s iCloud also contained over 50 images of a nine-year-old female victim.

A conviction of both charges could result in 20-50 years in prison along with a potential lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.