{"id":2411144,"date":"2025-03-07T16:57:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T21:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/flight-attendant-pleads-guilty-to-depraved-mid-air-crimes\/"},"modified":"2025-03-07T17:00:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T22:00:04","slug":"flight-attendant-pleads-guilty-to-depraved-mid-air-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/flight-attendant-pleads-guilty-to-depraved-mid-air-crimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Flight Attendant Pleads Guilty to &#8216;Depraved&#8217; Mid-Air Crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fflight-attendant-pleads-guilty-to-depraved-mid-air-crimes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2411144&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A former American airlines flight\u2064 attendant, Estes \u2064Carter Thompson III, has pleaded guilty to \u200bcharges related to the sexual exploitation of children after he was found secretly recording minors using airplane lavatories. \u2063Thompson, 37, escorted a 14-year-old \u200dgirl \u2063to a\u200b frist-class bathroom during a flight from Charlotte to Boston, where \u200bhe had hidden an \u200diPhone to film her.\u2064 Investigators\u200b later discovered that he had also recorded four other girls, aged 7, 9, 11, and\u200c 14, in similar circumstances and had hundreds of images of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anti-sex-trafficking-advocates-slam-twitter-on-heels-of-bombshell-lawsuit-from-teen-victim\/\" title=\"Anti-Sex Trafficking Advocates Slam Twitter On Heels Of Bombshell Lawsuit From Teen Victim\">child <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ariz-prison-escapees-recaptured-after-manhunt\/\" title=\"Ariz. ... escapees recaptured after manhunt\">sexual abuse<\/a><\/a>\u2063 in his iCloud account. He faces important \u2062prison\u200c time, with sentencing scheduled for June 17. American Airlines stated that Thompson \u2064had been \u200bremoved from service after the finding. Legal portrayal for \u200bthe victims is in progress, with settlements confirmed for some cases as others\u2063 are set to go to\u200c trial.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A former American Airlines flight attendant has pleaded guilty to secretly recording video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom and having recordings of four other girls using the lavatories.<\/p>\n<p>Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, of Charlotte, North Carolina, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of attempted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/middle-school-teacher-charged-sexual-exploitation-minor-concerned-student-sets-trap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sexual exploitation<\/a> of children and one count of possession of images of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">child sexual abuse depicting<\/a> a prepubescent minor.<\/p>\n<p>According to investigators, the girl got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to her seat during a Sept. 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston, but found it was occupied.<\/p>\n<p>Thompson told her the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her there, investigators said. She told investigators that before she entered the bathroom, Thompson told her he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken.<\/p>\n<p>After he left, the teen entered the bathroom and saw red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, officials said, with the words written in black ink and all caps, &ldquo;inoperative catering equipment,&rdquo; &ldquo;remove from service,&rdquo; and &ldquo;seat broken.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Beneath the stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video, investigators said. The girl used her phone to take a picture of the stickers and concealed iPhone before leaving.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are pleased to hear that the American Airlines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/passenger-bites-flight-attendant-makes-death-threat-insane-meltdown-go-back-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flight attendant<\/a> who preyed on at least five young girls as they used the airplane bathroom has pled guilty for his depraved crimes,&rdquo; Paul Llewellyn, whose law firm Lewis &amp; Llewellyn has represented the 14-year-old girl and another victim in lawsuits stemming from the case, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We commend the US Attorney&rsquo;s Office for its work on the criminal case in bringing this felon to justice.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Llewellyn said the firm settled the 14-year-old&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mark-zuckerbergs-meta-agrees-pay-trump-huge-settlement-censorship-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> with American Airlines and is set to go to trial in July in the other lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of a 9-year-old girl from Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors also allege that their investigation turned up hundreds of images in Thompson&rsquo;s iCloud account of child sexual abuse generated through artificial intelligence, as well as the images of the other four girls captured on earlier flights using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/drone-strikes-aircraft-fighting-california-wildfire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aircraft<\/a> lavatories. They were ages 7, 9, 11 and 14.<\/p>\n<p>American Airlines said following his arrest that Thompson was &ldquo;immediately withheld from service&rdquo; and hadn&rsquo;t worked for the airline since the phone was discovered.<\/p>\n<p>Attempted sexual exploitation of children carries a sentence of 15-30 years in prison, while possessing images of sexual abuse of a prepubescent minor carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>Both charges also provide for at least five years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution.<\/p>\n<p>Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced June 17.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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He pleaded guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse images. Investigators revealed that during a flight on September 2, 2023, the girl was directed by Thompson to use the first-class lavatory after finding the main one occupied. Inside the bathroom, she discovered red stickers indicating it was out of service and found Thompson had hidden his iPhone there to record her. Following his arrest, American Airlines stated he was immediately removed from service. Thompson faces significant prison time when sentenced on June 17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2411145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Flight-attendant-camera.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38144,34135,32750,33211,51751],"class_list":["post-2411144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-aviation-safety","tag-flight-attendant","tag-guilty-plea","tag-legal-news","tag-mid-air-crimes"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Flight-attendant-camera.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2411144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2411148,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411144\/revisions\/2411148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2411145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2411144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2411144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2411144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}