Los Angeles-area prosecutors have charged a former California State Parks official with using hidden cameras to record naked lifeguards in a men’s locker room.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said that between August 2024 and July 2025, California State Parks Superintendent Kevin Pearsall, 59, recorded video and audio footage inside the men’s employee locker room in the lifeguard headquarters at Bolsa Chica State Beach, about 27 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The investigation into Mr. Pearsall began when another State Parks employee found a USB containing the footage and a hidden camera. A California Highway Patrol investigation found other cameras and determined Mr. Pearsall placed them in the locker room.
In total, 23 men had their genitals or butts captured on footage taken by the hidden cameras without their consent. Mr. Pearsall is also accused of sending photos and footage of the victims to two other men and of making sexual comments about the genitals of his employees, prosecutors said.
Mr. Pearsall was charged with five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming someone else and three misdemeanor counts of unlawfully disseminating private recordings. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum of 18 years and eight months in prison.
He turned himself in on Tuesday and was released on recognizance. His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 6.
Mr. Pearsall chose to retire after being put on administrative leave when the investigation began, said the district attorney’s office.
The superintendency is a sworn law enforcement position overseeing state parks in a given district. Mr. Pearsall worked for California State Parks starting in 1991 and held the superintendent position from 2023 until the start of the investigation in July 2025.
Mr. Pearsall and California State Parks were also hit with a civil lawsuit from one of the lifeguard victims who claimed sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and that the State Parks failed to prevent Mr. Pearsall’s illegal behavior, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ron Zambrano, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of his unnamed client, told KABC-TV that Mr. Pearsall “had a particular fascination with certain employees. My client ended up being one of them. Apparently, it was very common for Pearsall to encourage people that he liked, I guess, to get the more senior lockers near the back, which ended up being where the cameras were.”
California State Parks said in a statement that it “takes these charges very seriously and has fully cooperated with law enforcement through every step of the investigation. Upon being alerted to these serious criminal allegations, State Parks immediately contacted the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and requested an investigation. As this is an active criminal case, State Parks will not comment further at this time.”
