American Airlines retreats after blaming a 9-year-old for not seeing a hidden camera in a lavatory - A former flight attendant is accused of luring girls to use the lavatory after taping his iPhone to the toilet seat.

FILE - In this photo provided by the law firm Lewis & Llewellyn LLP, an iPhone is taped to the back of a toilet seat on an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Boston, Sept. 2, 2023. Estes Carter Thompson III, an American Airlines flight attendant, pleaded not guilty Monday, May 20, 2024, on charges of trying to secretly video record a 14-year-old female passenger using an airplane bathroom last September. Police have also alleged that Thompson had recordings of four other girls using lavatories on an aircraft where he worked. (Lewis & Llewellyn LLP via AP, File)

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines has distanced itself from a court filing in which the carrier said a 9-year-old girl should have noticed there was a camera taped to the seat of an airplane lavatory.

A former flight attendant is accused of luring girls to use the lavatory after taping his iPhone to the toilet seat. The 9-year-old’s family flew from Texas to California on American last year and sued the airline after the FBI told them that videos of the girl were found on the flight attendant’s phone.

In response to the lawsuit, American said in a court document that it would dispute the family’s claim by showing that any injuries the 9-year-old girl suffered were caused by the girl’s “own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by (her) use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”

An American spokesperson said Thursday that outside lawyers working for the company “made an error in this filing.”

“We do not believe this child is at fault, and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously,” the spokesperson said.

Lawyers for the airline amended the filing Wednesday in a state district court in Austin, Texas. The new filing is shorter and deletes the accusation that the girl caused her own injuries.

Estes Carter Thompson III, a flight attendant who was later fired by American, pleaded not guilty this week to attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of images of child sexual abuse.

Authorities say Thompson, 37, tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using the bathroom on a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston, and had recordings of four girls including the 9-year-old using lavatories on earlier flights. He was arrested in January and has been in federal custody ever since.

Thompson is next due in federal court in Boston on July 1. The charges he faces carry maximum sentences of up to 30 and 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

The 14-year-old’s family is also suing American, which is based in Fort Worth.

Article Link

Archive

 

[Blacklight]

You do have to be pretty retarded if you use the literal glowing toilet.

 

[fresh pair of socks]

You do have to be pretty retarded if you use the literal glowing toilet.

A 9 y/o shouldn't have to check a toilet for a camera.

 

[General Disarray]

For the "guess the race" people (the name is deceiving):

 

[vomitusdeux]

You do have to be pretty retarded if you use the literal glowing toilet.

Kids are literally retarded and shouldn't be blamed in these situations.

 

[Cyclonus]

You do have to be pretty retarded if you use the literal glowing toilet.

Yeah, I'm guessing el pervo wasn't stupid enough to turn the flashlight on on his phone for literally no reason as it would hinder his quest to obtain footage of little girl ass. They probably turned it on in that picture to make it more obvious where the phone is.

 

[TowinKarz]

I eagerly await to see how Delta can top this, as they and AA are in a forever-war to see who can stay in business despite providing the worst customer service in the airline industry.

 

[LateNightMuffin]

You do have to be pretty retarded if you use the literal glowing toilet.

It took literally one fucking comment for someone to blame the child. One fucking comment.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

For the "guess the race" people (the name is deceiving):

View attachment 6019040

I got thrown off by Estes at first but Thompson isn't a very black last name. His name and job made me think of some Cotton Belt queen, like Tennessee Williams or Bill's cousin on King of the Hill.

At least it wasn't Greg Thompson from At Home With English.

 

[The Ugly One]

How the fuck do you think your toilet phone taped the fucking toilet seat won't get found and traced back to you?

 

[Fascist Frederick]

It took literally one fucking comment for someone to blame the child. One fucking comment.

It depends on the child, doesn't it?

 

[bango skank]

Yeah, I'm guessing el pervo wasn't stupid enough to turn the flashlight on on his phone for literally no reason as it would hinder his quest to obtain footage of little girl ass. They probably turned it on in that picture to make it more obvious where the phone is.

You’d think so, but the filing from the airline even mentions the light was on.

she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”

 

[Kari Kamiya]

I just want to know how the fuck some airflight attendant thought he could get away with this by openly luring only girls to this one toilet when literally anyone could've gotten up the exact moment the seat belt sign turns off to go pee. There is never a time where someone is not getting up to use the bathroom on a flight, it's a constant stream of people coming and going.

Also much lulz on an AA attorney putting the blame on a child in one of their filings. They better have fired that guy.

 

[Biggie Smalls' Taint]

The only appropriate response is "We are aware of this, and that employee is on his way into a jet turbine as we speak."

 

[Al from Dadeville]

I bet he didn’t mean to turn the flashlight on, so the phone wouldn’t have been as obvious to the younger kids

 

[Mechanical Pencil]

The only appropriate response is "We are aware of this, and that employee is on his way into a jet turbine as we speak."

Turbine is pretty good, but a part of me wants to see him strapped to the front wheels mid flight. Imagine the suspense as the gear is dropped on approach, the pink cloud he'd make on touchdown.

Basically the plane version of keelhauling.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

I'd have thought a male flight attendant would be more into perving on little boys than anything else.

 

[Bland Crumbs]

For the "guess the race" people (the name is deceiving):

View attachment 6019040

I never would have thought Jon Bernthal was such a creep.

 

[Spunt]

You do have to be pretty retarded if you use the literal glowing toilet.

Children ARE retarded, though. That's why we don't let them drive semi-trucks or operate blast furnaces. That's why blaming them for doing retarded things is, well, retarded.

 

[Mordecai "3 Finger" Brown]

I suppose I'm overthinking this.

But after looking at the evidence photo of the inverted cellphone camera setup, my first thought was this involves a lot of risk and effort for a half-second blurry clip of some child's butt.