BOSTON (WHDH) - The parents of a 14-year-old girl are speaking out after they say their daughter found a hidden camera attached to a toilet in a plane bound for Boston earlier this month.
In a statement over the weekend, the North Carolina family said the alleged incident happened on American Airlines Flight 1441 from Charlotte on Sept. 2. Now, the family is demanding answers.
“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare — their child is filmed while using a restroom,” said attorney Paul Llewellyn in an interview Monday.
Llewellyn, who is representing the girl’s family, said the family believes their child was targeted by a male flight attendant who told her to use the first class bathroom instead of the coach bathroom.
Llewellyn said the flight attendant went into the bathroom before the teenager and then came out saying the toilet was broken.
“He told her that the seat is broken but it will be fixed when the plane lands,” Llewellyn said. “And then she went in. She used the bathroom. She then turned around to do the flush and that’s when she saw the cellphone with the light on, taped, and the words ‘Seat broken.’”
American Airlines confirmed law enforcement met the flight when it landed in Boston.
“…We take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation as safety and security are our highest priorities,” the airline added in a statement.
Family members, though, who want to stay anonymous to protect their daughter, are voicing frustrations and say they haven’t heard anything from American Airlines.
“It’s insulting,” the girl’s father said. “It sends the message to me that they care far more about themselves than they do about passengers.”
“The most innocent person on that plane was my daughter, a child, and they can’t muster up the courage and the integrity to even reach out to us,” the father continued.
Llewellyn said the family is focused on doing what they can to support their daughter.
Llewellyn continued, saying the family is proud of their daughter for having the courage to take a picture of the incident and report it.
“Seeing that picture and just seeing how obvious, how brazen it was, I think that certainly helped bring this incident to the public eye,” Llewellyn said. “So, it’s certainly kudos to her for having the intelligence, the wherewithal, the strength of character to take that picture.”
Though the family is waiting for the FBI to finish its investigation, Llewellyn said they had not ruled out legal action as of Monday.
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