Estes Carter Thompson is accused of recording multiple girls by taping his phone to plane toilet seats. It was then announced that Thompson is accused of having videos of girls aged 7, 9, 11 and 14.
The airline initially blamed a 9-year-old girl for being secretly recorded, arguing that she should have known the airplane toilet contained a recording device. However, With all the backlash they were getting from the families and social media, American Airlines backtracked their filing stating that they do not believe the child is at fault and that they take the allegations involving the former team member seriously.
Thompson, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was arrested in January in Lynchburg, Virginia, and indicted last month. On Monday, he pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual exploitation and possession of images of child sexual abuse in federal court in Boston. He’s being held without bail on those charges.
