Family ‘elated’ over flight attendant’s arrest: Attorney

(NewsNation) — The attorney for the family of a girl who says she was recorded in the bathroom on an American Airlines flight says they are “elated” the man allegedly responsible has been arrested.

John Buric represents the 14-year-old girl who found a phone taped to a lavatory toilet aboard the September 2023 flight. She said a male attendant had told her to use the bathroom right after he was in it.

“The FBI did a great job of researching what they needed to and executed their warrants and were able to uncover a lot of information that we obviously are not yet able to uncover, but they’re very happy that this guy is where he needs to be,” Buric said Friday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” “They hope that he stays there while these charges are pending.”

Former flight attendant Estes Thompson, 37, of Charlotte, North Carolina, has been charged with attempted child sexual exploitation and possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

Thompson, who was working as an attendant on the Sept. 2 flight from Charlotte to Boston, approached the 14-year-old while she waited for an occupied bathroom in the main cabin and escorted her to an unoccupied first-class bathroom, according to the charging documents. Before the girl went in, however, Thompson allegedly told her that he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken before he briefly entered the bathroom.

After Thompson came out of the bathroom, court documents say, the teen entered and noticed red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, that stated in handwritten black ink: “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT,” “REMOVE FROM SERVICE,” and “SEAT BROKEN.”

The victim used her phone to take a picture of the red stickers that allegedly concealed an iPhone placed beneath them before leaving the bathroom. Thompson then reentered the lavatory immediately after, documents say.

The girl returned to her seat and told her parents, who notified other flight attendants. They relayed the information to the captain, who notified law enforcement.

The girl’s father then confronted Thompson on the plane.

“Dad ran into the back of the plane, and there was quite a kerfuffle back there,” Buric said.

Law enforcement officials stated that when the flight arrived at Logan Airport in Boston, it appeared that Thompson’s iPhone may have been restored to factory settings. Police also allegedly found 11 “INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT” stickers in his suitcase.

Investigators said a search of Thompson’s iCloud account revealed four instances between January and August 2023 that appeared to show minors using plane bathrooms, along with over 50 images of a 9-year-old unaccompanied minor, including images of the child seated preflight and close-ups of her face as she slept. In addition, hundreds of AI-generated child pornography images were allegedly stored on Thompson’s iCloud account.

The 14-year-old girl’s family has filed a civil lawsuit against American Airlines. Buric said there was a delay in the flight crew notifying the captain, which he called “troubling.”

“We believe that there was certainly an ability to confiscate that phone,” Buric said.

The lawsuit is still in its “infancy stages,” Buric said, and lawyers are seeking information such as the names of those working on the flight and training materials.

“Not surprising, although American says that, you know, we take this seriously, they’ve just ignored us,” Buric said. “It would surprise me if folks that work for the airlines weren’t at least somewhat suspicious, and someone hadn’t reported him of some suspicious activity and the airline just ignored it.”

American Airlines said in a statement it has been cooperating fully with law enforcement and that Thompson hasn’t worked since the September 2023 incident.

If convicted, Thompson faces 15-30 years in prison for attempted sexual exploitation of children and five to 20 years in prison for possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

Nexstar Media Wire and NewsNation affiliate WWLP contributed to this report.