Two Orange County state parks employees who believe they may have been victimized by a former superintendent accused of recording naked lifeguards at a Bolsa Chica State Beach locker room spoke out Thursday, with one saying news of the allegations were like “getting punched in the stomach.”
Kevin Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, is facing felony and misdemeanor charges alleging he recorded naked lifeguards in an Orange County beach locker room and sharing the images with friends. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office last week announced that Pearsall was charged with five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful dissemination of private recordings.
The alleged offenses occurred in the men’s locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach Lifeguard Headquarters and victimized 23 lifeguards and other workers, none of whom consented to being recorded, prosecutors said.
Pearsall is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 6 in Westminster.
At a Los Angeles news conference with attorneys Gloria Allred and John West, two men who believe they may have been victimized announced a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court against Pearsall and the state Department of Parks and Recreation. The suit alleges sexual harassment, gender discrimination and failure to prevent harassment and discrimination.
One of the plaintiffs, Matthew Dawson, said he started working with Pearsall in 2014 when he was a lifeguard.
“What Kevin did, it was like getting punched in the stomach,” Dawson said. “There were no words. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t process what was happening. When I was naked and changing into my uniform in the locker room, I remember Kevin directing me to the back area and I never thought anything of it. It just seems eccentric. Now I feel he was setting me up to undress on camera. I felt my skin crawling.”
Another plaintiff, Richard Corey, said he works as a senior park aide for California State Parks.
“What happened with Kevin Pearsall is the ultimate betrayal of trust,” Corey said. “He was not only in one of the highest positions of California State Parks, but he was a sworn POST-certified peace officer. A position of trust. He was sworn not only to protect the public, but also us, his employees. He failed us — and that failure and betrayal hurts. It’s still hurting.”
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of three people, seeks unspecified damages.
According to the DA’s Office, the case stemmed from the discovery in July 2025 of a USB memory stick data storage device with a hidden camera in the men’s employee locker room at the lifeguard headquarters.
State parks officials reviewed the content on the device and contacted the California Highway Patrol, which conducted an investigation that revealed 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.
“From 2023 through July of 2025, Pearsall served as a California State Parks superintendent, which is a sworn law enforcement position overseeing the management and operations of state parks in the Orange Coast District, including Orange County,” the DA’s Office stated.
Pearsall is further accused of sending images of nude or partially nude men in the locker room to two men, and making sexually charged comments about the victims’ anatomy.
Pearsall faces a maximum sentence of 18 years and eight months behind bars if convicted on all counts, prosecutors said.