Overview

• Judge Julia E. Kobick called Thompson’s actions “appalling” and imposed an 18½-year prison term with five years of supervised release.
• Thompson pleaded guilty in March to attempted sexual exploitation of children and possession of images depicting a prepubescent minor.
• He concealed an iPhone beneath maintenance stickers to record five girls aged 7 to 14 in airplane lavatories between January and September 2023.
• He will serve his sentence at FMC Butner in North Carolina and is required to undergo court-mandated sex offender treatment.
• American Airlines faces a civil lawsuit in Texas from a victim’s family alleging it failed to prevent or detect Thompson’s covert recordings.