American Airlines Flight Attendant Facing Federal Child Pornography Charges

According to . Thompson, 36, was arrested Jan. 18 in Lynchburg, Virginia, on charges of attempted child sexual abuse and possession of kid pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

Jodi Cohen, FBI Special Agent in Boston, condemned the alleged actionsstating: “What Mr. Thompson is accused of is disgraceful and, in our opinion, calculated, given that this alleged conduct occurred on at least five flights.”

The incident occurred in September during a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston. Thompson is accused of instructing a 14-year-old girl to make use of the first-class restroom, where he allegedly hid his iPhone to record her. The girl found red stickers under the bathroom seat with the words “NOT WORKING CATERING EQUIPMENT” and “BROKEN SEAT”.

“It is alleged that Thompson concealed his iPhone under the red stickers to record the video,” the discharge reads.

After taking photos of the stickers and the hidden phone, the girl reported the incident to her parents, who notified the flight attendants. The pilot was notified after reaching Boston, and the girl’s father confronted Thompson, who locked himself in the toilet for several minutes. Police suspect he can have tried to delete evidence from his phone.

A subsequent search of Thompson’s suitcase revealed 11 stickers just like those present in the bathroom. In addition, police discovered 4 videos on his iCloud account showing minors aged 7 to 14 using an airplane toilet, in addition to photos of a 9-year-old and pictures of artificial intelligence-generated child pornography.

Following the incident, American Airlines immediately suspended service to Thompson, stating: “We take these allegations very seriously. They do not reflect our airline or our core mission of caring for people. We have fully cooperated with law enforcement authorities in the investigation because nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and team.”

Thompson will remain in custody pending trial within the Western District of Virginia and can then appear in federal court in Boston. If convicted, he could resist 30 years in prison for attempted child sexual abuse and as much as 20 years for possession of kid pornography depicting a prepubescent minor, each charges carrying the potential for supervised release, a nice of as much as $250,000 and restitution.