[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A 9-year-old girl was secretly filmed by a flight attendant while using the bathroom on a flight from Austin, Texas to Los Angeles back in January of 2023 — but now the airline is blaming HER for the incident?!
The little girl’s parents brought a lawsuit against American Airlines after it first came to light months ago that flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III (pictured above in his mugshot) had allegedly set up a secret camera in the lavatory of an American Airlines plane. And now, in a new brief filed at the courthouse in Travis County, Texas this week, American Airlines has chosen to BLAME THE VICTIM FOR THEIR FLIGHT ATTENDANT’S DESPICABLE ACTIONS!!! Reminder — the victim in question is a small child!
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Per People, which reviewed the filing Wednesday afternoon, lawyers for American Airlines wrote:
“Any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”
Excuse us, but WHAT?! Her own negligence? American Airlines’ argument is that a 9-year-old girl should have known that she was being secretly filmed while going to the bathroom on a flight, and it was thus HER FAULT she got seen by some creep?! Insane! Absolutely insane!! The little girl’s lawyer thinks so, too. In an emailed statement to People, family lawyer Paul Llewellyn slammed American Airlines for their filing:
“To blame a 9-year-old for being filmed while using the airplane bathroom is both shocking and outrageous. In my opinion this is a depraved legal strategy that sinks to a new low. American Airlines should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.”
The unnamed little girl’s mother also shared a statement with the mag:
“Instead of taking responsibility for this awful event, American Airlines is actually blaming our daughter for being filmed. How in good conscience could they even make such a suggestion? It both shocks and angers us. American Airlines has no shame.”
After discovering that their legal filing caused universal outrage (uhhh, no f**king s**t, you guys), American Airlines tried to pivot. They released a statement condemning the filing and indicated they would be amending their courtroom brief. They also blamed the whole thing on “outside legal counsel” working with their insurance company:
“Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made an error in this filing. The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning. We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously. Our core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team.”
Uh-huh… Sure…
The story behind the girl’s ordeal is a wild one. Back on the January 26, 2023 flight, she was walking down the aisle to use the bathroom when Thompson allegedly told her to wait for a moment so that he could “clean up a mess” in there, per previous documents reviewed by People. Prosecutors believe Thompson was in there setting up a camera to capture images of the girl using the toilet — images the family’s lawyers claim were later found on Thompson’s iCloud account.
This isn’t the only time Thompson has been accused of secretly recording an underage girl on an airplane, either. In September of 2023, he was a flight attendant on a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Boston. During that flight, the US Attorney’s Office says he recorded video of a 14-year-old girl using the bathroom in the first class section of the plane. In that instance, the girl thought something was suspicious, so she took a picture of what she thought might have been a secret camera before leaving the bathroom. She alerted her parents, who alerted other American Airlines cabin crew members who immediately notified authorities upon landing in Boston. We guess AA’s lawyers figured they could use her wariness as a shield in the other case? Yeesh, that’s dark…
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Now, the US Attorney’s Office believes Thompson recorded other videos of other underage victims on more flights on which he worked, as well. In a statement previously released following his arrest last September, federal prosecutors stated:
“The minor victims allegedly depicted in the surreptitious recordings were seven, nine, 11 and 14 years old at the time. Additionally, over 50 images of a nine-year-old unaccompanied minor were allegedly found in Thompson’s iCloud.”
WTF…
In April, the 36-year-old was officially indicted on counts including sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography. On Monday, he pleaded not guilty to the counts against him while appearing in federal court in Boston. He remains in federal custody awaiting trial, with his next expected court date to come on July 1.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
[Image via American Airlines/YouTube/Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority]
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