A former American Airlines flight attendant who used his phone to secretly film young girls in aeroplane bathrooms has been sentenced to 18 and a half years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, was arrested in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia, after a 14-year-old girl discovered his recording setup hidden under a sticker marked “seat broken” inside the aircraft’s lavatory. The girl took a photo and alerted her father, who confronted Thompson during the flight to Boston on September 2, 2023.

Thompson pleaded guilty in March to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor.

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He was sentenced in Boston federal court on Wednesday.

Investigators found footage on Thompson’s devices of five victims aged 7, 9, 11, and two 14-year-olds recorded over a nine-month period, according to NBC News.

AI-generated child sexual abuse material and more than 50 images of a 9-year-old girl, identified as an unaccompanied minor, were also discovered on his iCloud account.

“This behaviour is appalling,” said Boston US District Court Judge Julia Kobick during sentencing, adding the victims’ “innocence has been lost” because of Thompson’s actions.

In court, Thompson offered an apology, calling his behaviour “selfish, perverse and wrong.”

At the time of his arrest, American Airlines said in a statement, “We take these allegations very seriously. They do not reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people,” according to NBC News.

Thompson will serve his sentence at FMC Butner in North Carolina, where he also plans to undergo sex offender-specific treatment.

The airline is still facing a civil lawsuit in Texas brought by the family of one of the victims.

Their lawyer, Paul Llewellyn of Lewis & Llewellyn, said in a statement: “We are pleased that the perpetrator has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term so that he can no longer prey on young girls. But no family should ever have to endure what these families have gone through.”