American Airlines victim-blames girl filmed in plane toilet by staffer

American Airlines is facing criticism for its response to a lawsuit where a 9-year-old girl was secretly filmed in the plane’s toilet by a male member of its cabin crew. The lawsuit, which involves the company and one of its flight attendants, has led to a “shameful and outrageous” reaction from the airline. The American Airlines legal team tried to blame the 9-year-old girl, saying she “should have known” about the hidden recording device, according to the Daily Mail.

American Airlines is one of the largest carriers in the United States. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by scheduled passengers carried.

American Airline flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, was arrested in January for recording four underage girls, aged 7, 9, 11, and 14, during multiple American Airlines flights.

American Airlines suspended the flight attendant after the incident came to light.

HOW GIRLS BEING FILMED ON PLANE TOILETS CAME TO LIGHT

Thompson was arrested after a 14-year-old girl told her family about the camera in the plane’s bathroom.

The FBI then found other victims, including the nine-year-old from Texas, after searching Thompson’s devices and iCloud, reported the Daily Mail. AI-generated pornography was also found on his devices.

“It felt like we were living in a nightmare when the FBI showed up on our doorstep to tell us that our daughter had been secretly filmed by an American Airlines flight attendant. Since then, our daughter has struggled with fear and anxiety,” the nine-year-old girl’s family was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

VICTIM-SHAMING BY AMERICAN AIRLINES

In response to the lawsuit from the 9-year-old’s family, American Airlines’ legal side argued they are not responsible, citing legal terms like “comparative negligence” and “contributory negligence”.

The American Airlines defence stated that any harm experienced was the girl’s “own fault”.

“Defendant would show that 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,” the legal defence of American Airlines said, blaming the 9-year-old girl for the incident.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Caroline Recupero, explained the defence, “American Airlines is blaming a 9-year-old-girl for being filmed by an American Airlines flight attendant, arguing the child knew or should have known that the airplane toilet contained a recording device. It is our firm’s position that this assertion is both shameful and absolutely outrageous.”

In the lawsuit, the girl’s parents claim that in January 2023, Thompson took pictures of their daughter while she was using the bathroom on a flight to Los Angeles. The family was travelling to Disney World and a gymnastics competition.

According to the complaint, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recovered images from Thompson’s iCloud that showed the girl’s face, buttocks, and genitals, reported the Daily Mail.

HOW FLIGHT ATTENDANT HID CAMERA IN PLANE TOILET

American Airlines flight attendant Thompson, 36, from Charlotte, North Carolina, faces charges of attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of images of child sexual abuse.

Investigators say the incident occurred during a September 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston. A 14-year-old passenger attempted to use the bathroom but found it occupied. The flight attendant then directed her to the first-class bathroom, claiming it was unoccupied, and escorted her there.

Before the girl entered the bathroom, the flight attendant told her that he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken.

Inside the bathroom, the girl discovered red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat, which was in the open position, officials said, as reported by the Independent.

Beneath the red stickers, she found a concealed iPhone set up to record a video.

Upon finding the iPhone, the teen girl took a picture of it and concealed it before leaving the bathroom.

Prosecutors also said that Thompson stored hundreds of images of child sexual abuse on his iPhone’s iCloud account, generated through artificial intelligence.