About halfway through a Sept. 2, 2023, trip from Charlotte to Boston, the 14-year-old, according to investigators, got up to use the main cabin restroom closest to her seat but discovered it was occupied. Investigators added that Thompson then led her to the vacant first-class restroom and informed her that it was empty. Thompson informed her that he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken before she could enter the restroom. The teenager saw red stickers on the toilet seat lid’s bottom, which was in the open position, after he departed, according to authorities.
According to authorities, Thompson had hidden his iPhone behind the stickers in order to film a video; the girl took a photo of the stickers with her phone before covering her phone and hiding it before heading off. Additionally, the prosecution claims that hundreds of artificial intelligence-generated photos of child sexual assault were discovered saved on Thompson’s iCloud account. Investigators discovered four more instances of Thompson documenting a kid using an airline restroom between January 2023 and August of that same year after searching that account. At the time, they alleged, the people seen in the tapes were 7, 9, 11, and 14 years old. Investigators add that police have been in touch with their relatives.
The flight attendant was “immediately withheld from service” according to an earlier statement from American Airlines, and she has not worked since the phone was found. A maximum term of 20 years in jail may result from owning photos of a prepubescent juvenile having sexual relations with another person. The attempted sexual exploitation of minors brings a punishment of 15 to 30 years in prison. In addition, restitution, a fine of up to $250,000, and supervised release for a minimum of five years and a maximum of life are stipulated in both accusations.