Flight attendant Estes Thompson, 37, faces charges for secretly filming young girls in airplane bathrooms using a hidden iPhone.
Thompson secretly filmed young girls, targeting those as young as seven. He taped his iPhone in airplane bathrooms to carry out these acts.
He admitted to child exploitation charges, acknowledging that he taped his phone to a toilet seat and secretly recorded a 14-year-old girl on a 2023 flight. Police discovered he had recorded other young girls, having tricked them about a broken toilet and hidden his phone with maintenance labels.
Facing a potential 20-year prison sentence, he appeared in court on Thursday. Police found disturbing videos during their investigation. He is 37 years old and previously lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Detectives uncovered secret recordings along with AI-generated sexual abuse videos involving children.
He recorded girls aged seven to fourteen on flights throughout 2023. These clips, along with AI-generated child sexual abuse images, were found on his iCloud account.
He used warning labels to conceal his trick, indicating that toilet seats were broken. He fixed his phone under the seat lid. One photo showed the phone’s light shining next to the camera, which was hidden under the sticker.
He was caught on a September 2023 flight heading to Boston. Prosecutors described the event in court, detailing his disturbing actions.
He directed a 14-year-old to the First Class bathroom, requesting to wash his hands first while mentioning the broken toilet seat. The teen noticed his hidden phone behind red maintenance stickers, taking photos and informing her parents.
The teen’s father confronted Thompson, who ran into the bathroom, locked the door, and reset his phone. The flight crew was then alerted, and the captain notified law enforcement.