American Airlines: Attempt to blame 9-year-old for being recorded in lavatory is 'an error'

American Airlines is changing direction after saying that a young girl was negligent after being recorded by a flight attendant in the lavatory.

In the filing on May 21 the airline claimed that one of the plaintiffs, a 9-year-old girl, was recorded in the bathroom through her “own fault and negligence.”

“[The] Plaintiff’s use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device,” American Airlines response to the petition said.

American Airlines flight attendant: Accused of filming girls in plane bathroom arrested

Attorney Paul Llewellyn is representing two young girls who were recorded on separate flights, including the 9-year-old.

“I was both shocked and outraged,” Llewellyn told USA TODAY. “As a lawyer I understand that you have to assert possible defenses, but I cannot even imagine a world where it would ever be appropriate to blame a 9-year-old for being filmed in an airplane bathroom.”

In a statement to USA TODAY, American Airlines said that there was an error in the filing.

“Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made an error in this filing. The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning," an American Airlines spokesperson said in a statement. “We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously. Our core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team.”

Llewellyn said that this situation has greatly impacted the victims, especially since the images were not ever located.

“As a result of this has had a significant impact on them,” he said, “These images they could be on the dark web forever. These poor young girls for the rest of their lives will have this hanging over their heads and these intimate images of them exist out there and we don't know who has possession of them.”

Former American Airlines flight attendant was charged for allegedly recording minors on board several flights

On April 26, former American Airlines flight attendant Estes Thompson, 36, a Charlotte, North Carolina resident, was charged after prosecutors said he secretly recorded minors while they used the plane's lavatory.

Thompson allegedly has the recordings of four minors, ages 7, 9, 11 and 14 years old, that had been using the bathroom while he worked on the aircraft, a press release from the Department of Justice said.

Over 50 images of the 9-year-old victim were found in Thompson’s iCloud. In addition, the photos of the victim included images of her seated pre-flight and close-ups of her face while she slept on board, the press release said.

Flight attendant: Caught for allegedly filming a girl in the plane bathroom

14-year-old girl provided evidence of the encounter

According to a criminal complainant filed on Dec. 1, 2023, the family of a 14-year-old girl filed a lawsuit alleging that Thompson secretly recorded her while she utilized the lavatory.

On a flight from North Carolina to Boston on Sept. 2, 2023, the young girl needed to go the bathroom and Thompson told her to use the first-class facility. Thompson said he needed to wash his hands before the girl used the facility, the complaint said.

After using the bathroom, the girl noticed that a phone was hidden beneath the seat's broken sign. The victim then pulled out her phone to take a picture of what she saw to show to her parents, the complaint said.

When she unlocked the lavatory door, Thompson was standing there and entered the bathroom again. The victim’s father then confronted Thompson about the photo. After taking a while to show his phone to the father, no intimate photos of the girl were visible, the complaint said.

Thompson’s charges

Following the incident with the 14-year-old girl, Thompson was arrested on Jan. 9 and charged with:

• one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children

• one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor

"I think it is time for American Airlines to finally stand up and take responsibility for what happened instead of pursuing these frivolous legal defenses," Llewellyn said. "Why don't they take responsibility they claim to care about passengers they claim to take this case very seriously well actions speak louder than words."

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: American Airlines filing claims 9-year-old negligent in spycam case