The Naked Lifeguard Recording Scandal That Could End In Prison

A former California State Parks superintendent faces 31 criminal charges for secretly recording nearly two dozen naked lifeguards in a Southern California locker room and sending those explicit images to two other men.

Starting in August 2024, Kevin Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, allegedly set up a camera inside the Bolsa Chica State Beach Lifeguard Headquarters men’s employee locker room in Huntington Beach, California, according to Orange County prosecutors.

Almost a year later, a California State Parks officer found a USB flash drive in the men’s employee locker room, which prosecutors say included videos of state employees undressing. California State Parks then contacted the California Highway Patrol to investigate the device, which was found to contain hidden camera footage.

The employee locker room is not open to the public but accessible to full-time personnel, seasonal lifeguards, office staff, maintenance, and park aides, according to authorities. The hidden camera captured both audio and video from August 2024 through July 2025.

“The CHP investigation identified 23 different men who had their genitals or buttocks filmed by the hidden camera placed in the employee locker room by Pearsall,” the Orange County District Attorney’s office said. “None of the men agreed to be recorded.”

A former California State Parks superintendent in Orange County has been released on bond after being accused of secretly recording lifeguards in a men’s locker room, authorities said.

Prosecutors allege 59-year-old Kevin Pearsall placed a hidden camera in the men’s locker room… pic.twitter.com/mPyfDORFSO

, ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 24, 2026

Authorities allege Pearsall sent nude images of three victims to two other men and made sexually explicit comments about his employees’ genitals.

“Instead of protecting his employees, Pearsall used his position to spy on the men who worked for him while they were in the place where they should have been the safest and then share those intimate images of his victims,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

“These victims had their privacy violated in such a disgusting way, and we will do everything we can to ensure they receive the justice they deserve,” he added.

From 2023 through July 2025, Pearsall served as a California State Parks Superintendent, a sworn law enforcement position overseeing the management and operations of state parks in Orange County. He was first hired by California State Parks in 1994.

On Tuesday, June 23, Pearsall turned himself in on a $500,000 arrest warrant and was released by a judge on his own recognizance, according to prosecutors. He has been charged with five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another, and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful dissemination of private recordings. His next court appearance is set for August 6.

If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum sentence of 18 years and eight months in prison.