BOSTON (WFLA) — A family is claiming that an American Airlines flight attendant aboard a Boston-bound flight placed a hidden camera in an aircraft bathroom to record their daughter earlier this month.
The 14-year-old’s parents said their daughter was “targeted and victimized by a child predator who filmed her while using the bathroom” aboard American Airlines flight 1441 from Charlotte to Boston on Sept. 2, according to a statement from attorneys obtained by NBC affiliate WBTS.
“There is no doubt in our minds this was perpetrated by the lone male flight attendant on board, who directed her to use the first-class bathroom from coach, entered just before her ‘to wash his hands’ – then telling her the seat was broken and ‘not to worry about it’ – and reentering directly after she left,” the family detailed in their statement. “This sequence of events has been corroborated by other passengers on board.”
The family’s attorney, Paul T. Llewellyn, told the news station that “it is shocking that a sexual predator could brazenly prey on a minor while she used the bathroom on a flight.”
Earlier this month, passengers told media outlets in Boston and North Carolina that a woman reported her teenage daughter noticed the camera in the first-class bathroom.
Massachusetts State Police initially reported to WSOC in North Carolina that the incident involved a juvenile, a flight attendant and a cell phone. State police later deferred to the FBI because the incident happened while the plane was in the air.
When the plane landed, law enforcement officers met at the gate and state police escorted the flight attendant from the plane, WBTS reported.
“After using the toilet our daughter realized a largely obscured iPhone had been affixed to the back of the toilet seat to record her, and courageously took a picture of this with her own phone. Very specific features on the hidden phone perfectly matched the one subsequently recovered from the flight attendant by law enforcement, and airline representatives confirmed the official stickers used to secure and hide the phone would not have been accessible to anyone other than crew,” the family revealed to WBTS.
The family told WBTS that they are “shocked and profoundly disturbed” by what happened.
“It is hard to fathom that a flight attendant – charged with ensuring our safety and security, and to whom the flying public is legally bound to obey – appears to have targeted and exploited our child in obtaining child pornography during a flight. That someone like this was allowed to be in that position of trust – and could follow through with such reckless behavior unchecked – should shock every parent,” the family said. “It is our sincerest hope that through these efforts nothing like this can ever be allowed again.”
An FBI spokesperson told WBTS that the agency had no comment on Sunday. They confirmed they responded to the incident earlier this month. American Airlines also had no comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
