Ex-Blue State Official Caught Filming Lifeguards In Locker Room, Sharing Footage

A former California state park superintendent accused of secretly recording lifeguards inside an employee locker room appeared in court Thursday as prosecutors pursue dozens of criminal charges tied to the disturbing allegations.

Kevin Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, faces five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another person and three misdemeanor counts of unlawfully distributing private recordings, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Pearsall, who once held a sworn law enforcement position overseeing state parks in Orange County, appeared in court wearing a white button-up shirt and red tie.

His attorney requested that the arraignment be delayed, and the judge granted the request. Pearsall is now scheduled to return to court Sept. 21.

At least nine alleged victims attended Thursday’s hearing.

Authorities accuse Pearsall of secretly recording audio and video inside a lifeguard locker room for at least 11 months beginning in August 2024.

Prosecutors also allege that Pearsall shared some of the recordings with two other men.

Several lifeguards who attended the hearing said seeing their former boss again brought back the anger and betrayal surrounding the case.

Park aides and lifeguards Richard Corey and Matthew Dawson were among the co-workers who showed up Thursday.

“I saw Kevin today in the hallway,” Dawson told reporters. “When he walked past me my stomach dropped. … I saw him smiling.”

He added, “This is not a joke. … To me, it’s obviously another game for him.”

Corey said he also noticed Pearsall smiling.

California State Parks Superintendent busted for secretly filming naked male lifeguards in the locker room.

The peace officer, Kevin Pearsall, is accused of filming 23 lifeguards.

Pearsall, a father of two, is accused of secretly recording audio and video for about a year and… pic.twitter.com/53JkXpm5hg

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 7, 2026

“It’s already a betrayal, it already hurts, but who does that?” Corey said. “The whole thing is messed up and hurts.”

Dawson and Corey said lifeguards had been encouraged to arrive at work in civilian clothing and change into their uniforms inside the locker room because wearing their uniforms outside made them look too much like law enforcement officers.

That routine now sits at the center of the allegations.

Corey said employees went through a wave of emotions when state officials first informed them about the investigation.

“It was anger, sadness, betrayal,” Corey said. “It was a wild day.”

He said Pearsall’s law enforcement status made the allegations even more troubling.

Corey said it was “the highest level of betrayal.”

The alleged distribution of some recordings has added another layer of anxiety for the employees involved.

“That give you a lot of anxiety,” Corey said. “We don’t know how many people he’s disseminated (the videos) to.”

Attorney Mark Peacock, who represents several alleged victims, said four of his clients were underage when they were allegedly recorded.

Some of Peacock’s clients attended Thursday’s hearing wearing red ties as a show of solidarity.

The attorney said his clients remain deeply concerned about where the footage may have ended up.

“Where are all the photos and videos?” Peacock told reporters. “Did they make their way to the dark web?”

He added, “You can fill in the blank how horrific that is.”

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“I’ve talked to the clients’ parents and I have emotional people on hand and they’re terrified,” Peacock told City News Service Wednesday. “A couple of them have said to me that they’ve tried to do everything right and this happens.”

Attorney Gloria Allred said Thursday that she now represents nine alleged victims, including Dawson and Corey, and expects to file another lawsuit on their behalf.

The criminal investigation began after a USB memory stick containing a hidden camera was discovered in July 2025 inside the men’s employee locker room at lifeguard headquarters, prosecutors said.

California State Parks officials reviewed the device and contacted the California Highway Patrol.

Investigators later determined Pearsall allegedly “was responsible for placing hidden cameras in the locker room, which recorded both audio and video, and using the hidden cameras to record numerous videos over an 11-month period beginning in August 2024,” according to prosecutors.

Pearsall held significant authority during the period in question.

“From 2023 through July of 2025, Pearsall served as a California State Parks superintendent, a sworn law enforcement position overseeing the management and operations of state parks in the Orange Coast District, including Orange County,” according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors allege Pearsall sent images showing nude or partially nude men to two other men and made sexually charged comments about the alleged victims’ bodies.

The case has already spilled into civil court.

One alleged victim filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court in June accusing state officials of hostile work environment harassment, sexual harassment and failure to prevent and remedy the alleged misconduct.

The plaintiff was “devastated” by the allegations, his attorney, Ron Zambrano, told City News Service.

“My client is shocked, devastated — wrapped up in betrayal,” Zambrano said. “He looked up to Pearsall as a mentor.”

Zambrano said the man began working as a seasonal lifeguard in 2018 before becoming a full-time employee in April 2022.

The attorney said his client initially had a locker near the entrance before Pearsall gave him a more desirable locker farther inside.

“But it also happened to be a better angle for the camera,” the attorney alleged.

Questions also remain about whether junior lifeguards may have been recorded.

Underage workers reportedly used the locker room, though investigators have not publicly established whether they were captured on video.

“I learned directly from one of the investigators this could have been happening as early as 2019,” Zambrano said.

Pearsall appears to have retired in July 2025 around the time investigators executed the first search warrant, according to Zambrano.

If convicted on every charge, Pearsall faces a maximum sentence of 18 years and eight months in prison, prosecutors said.

The case has now left California officials answering uncomfortable questions about how alleged misconduct of this scale could occur inside a state-run workplace under the watch of a sworn law enforcement supervisor.

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