Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, was initially taken into custody in January 2024 and later indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston in April 2024. The follow-up investigation uncovered that his iCloud contained numerous AI-generated images related to child sexual abuse.
Thompson has pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor, more than a year after his arrest. He could spend as much as 30 years behind bars.
Before his court appearance on Thursday, March 6, authorities found videos in his iCloud account that showed minors aged 7, 9, 11, and 14 being recorded without their knowledge in the airplane restroom, according to a statement from federal prosecutors.
Thompson’s actions took place between January and September 2023. They came to light on September 2, 2023, when a 14-year-old girl found that his phone was secretly recording her during a flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Boston.
Thompson reportedly persuaded the 14-year-old girl to access the first-class restrooms on the plane and accompanied her to that area.
He reportedly went into the bathroom ahead of her and informed her that the toilet seat was not working. Upon entering the bathroom, the alleged victim noticed red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, signaling that the toilet seat was broken. According to D.A. Foley’s news release, Thompson’s iPhone was reportedly taped and concealed under stickers to enable video recording.
Read More – 5-year-old Beaten to Death by Mother’s Partner; Killer Revealed She was giving Her Son “Too Much Attention”
“The minor victim informed her parents of what she saw and showed them the picture upon returning to her seat. The victim’s father confronted Thompson, who then locked himself in the lavatory with his iPhone for three to five minutes prior to the flight’s descent,” per the news release. “Upon the flight’s arrival at Boston’s Logan Airport, law enforcement observed that Thompson had restored his iPhone to factory settings.”
The incident on September 2, 2023, turned out to be the fifth one this year. He had more than 50 images of a nine-year-old unaccompanied minor in his iCloud. “The images included photos taken while the minor victim was seated in her seat pre-flight and close-ups of her face while sleeping,” according to the news release. Authorities have identified all the victims and have reached out to their families.
Thompson was taken into custody in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Va., and has been in federal detention since then. He will be sentenced on Tuesday, June 17.
Reference: Flight Attendant Who Filmed Girls in Airplane Lavatory with Hidden Phone Pleads Guilty
