Orange County prosecutors have arrested and charged a former California state park ranger with secretly filming nearly 22 men in an employee locker room at Huntington Beach.
Kevin Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, is charged with five felony counts, 23 counts of secret recording and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful distribution of a secret recording.
Pearsall surrendered to authorities amid a $500,000 warrant for his arrest Tuesday but was released on his own recognizance.
At least one victim, an unnamed sworn official, has filed a civil lawsuit against Pearsall and the California State Parks Department, alleging sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and failure to prevent illegal conduct.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of general damages for emotional distress and punitive damages.
The secret recording took place at the Bolsa Chica State Beach Lifeguard Headquarters for 11 months starting on August 24, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
The lawsuit alleges that the cameras may have been installed as early as 2019 and captured images of seasonal rescuers, including 15-year-olds.
Officials said the locker room is only accessible to full-time employees, year-round lifeguards, office staff, maintenance and park assistants.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office could not be reached for comment.
The footage came to light last July when a California state trooper found a USB camera inside a men's locker room and notified the California Highway Patrol, which began an investigation, according to prosecutors.
Pearsall, who served as Superintendent of California State Parks from 2023 to 2025, was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Pearsall oversaw the management and operation of state parks in the Orange Coast region, including those in Orange County.
During their investigation, federal investigators alleged that Pearsall placed hidden cameras in the men's locker room, recording mostly male lifeguards and other staff members changing clothes.
Investigators say they have identified at least 23 men who had their private parts or buttocks unknowingly shot by a hidden camera installed in the locker room.
Prosecutors accused Pearsall of sending two men numerous self-recorded images of men naked or naked in the locker room, and making sexual accusations about the private parts of his employees.
“Instead of protecting his employees, Pearsall used his position to spy on the men who were working for him while they were in what was supposed to be the safest place and shared those intimate photos of his victims,” said Orange County Dist. He said. Todd Spitzer. “These victims have had their privacy violated in such a despicable way, and we will do everything we can to ensure they get the justice they deserve.”
Ron Zambrano, the attorney who filed the civil suit on behalf of his unnamed client, is accused in the lawsuit that Pearsall encouraged his client and other victims to change into a facility known as “back lockers” where they would have more privacy, unaware of the hidden cameras placed there.
“Pearsall used his position to subject my client to appalling voyeurism because California State Parks did not adequately look for red flags that indicated he was a problem manager,” he said in a news release.
Zambrano said in the case that staff believed Pearsall had been investigated in another investigation into alleged embezzlement.
Workers linked the raid on the Bolsa Chica Lifeguard headquarters in July to those allegations because investigators seized computers, according to the lawsuit.
It took months before Zambrano's client learned that the raid was part of an alleged hidden camera investigation. Earlier this year, according to the lawsuit, the victim was told that he was among those being secretly recorded.
“For the first six months after being identified as a victim, the plaintiff received no communication or support from Internal Affairs or other investigative agencies, allowing damaging rumors about the exploitation of hidden cameras at work,” the lawsuit said.
