Police say students found a camera tied to recordings made in a girls theater changing room at the Bethesda high school.
BETHESDA, MD — A Walter Johnson High School employee has been charged after students found a video camera that police say was used to record underage girls in a theater changing room, prompting a widening investigation into what detectives described as evidence collected at the school and the employee’s home.
Montgomery County police say the case moved quickly from a student discovery to an arrest, but key questions remain about whether more recordings exist and whether other students were affected. James Mulhern III, 43, a media services technician at the school, is charged with sex abuse of a minor. School officials say he was placed on leave without pay as police and the school system continue separate but related reviews.
The investigation began with a school play. Police said two Walter Johnson students found a video camera in the control booth of the school’s theater on April 7. After checking the memory card, one student saw video that appeared to have been recorded inside the girls changing room in the theater area. According to police, the footage showed an adult man placing the camera and leaving while it recorded. A short time later, teenage girls entered the room and changed clothes for a performance. One student then emailed the videos to Principal Nicole J. Morgan, who identified the man in the footage as Mulhern, a media services technician whose work included theater equipment and student support tied to productions.
Police said school staff notified detectives on April 15, and investigators with the department’s Special Victims Investigations Division executed search warrants that same day at Walter Johnson High School on Rock Spring Drive and at Mulhern’s home in Clarksburg. The police department said officers recovered items of evidentiary value at the school and seized several electronic devices from the house. Later reporting, based on investigators’ review of the case, said more than 100 computers, cellphones, tablets and other digital items had been collected as detectives looked for additional evidence. Court records cited by local outlets said Mulhern first denied putting the camera in the room, then admitted he was the person shown in screenshots after investigators confronted him with images from the recording. The same records said he acknowledged an inappropriate attraction to multiple students. His public defender could not be reached for comment in follow-up reporting, and online court materials reviewed by local news organizations did not show a detailed public response from the defense to the allegations.
The case has drawn sharp attention in Montgomery County because it began with students, not a routine security check, and because the setting was a backstage area used by teenagers preparing for performances. NBC Washington reported that detectives have identified and contacted four victims. The Banner later reported police were examining a 2018 recording that showed four people in various stages of undress in the school theater changing room. Police said there was no nudity in that older video, but detectives were reviewing the evidence to determine whether other crimes may have occurred. That has widened the timeline beyond the single April discovery and turned what first looked like one hidden-camera case into a deeper examination of archived digital material. So far, police have not publicly said how many total recordings they believe exist, how long any camera activity may have gone on, or whether the evidence points to conduct outside school productions.
School officials have released little beyond confirming the personnel action and the referral to police. In an April 16 letter to parents, caregivers, students and staff, Morgan said a staff member had been placed on leave without pay effective immediately after administrators learned of the incident on April 15 and reported it to police. She wrote that the matter involved both staff confidentiality and an active police investigation, limiting what the school could share publicly. Morgan also said counselors, psychologists and social workers would be available for students and staff who felt affected by the news. The letter urged the school community not to spread unverified information, a sign of how quickly the case had already moved through campus and parent networks. That message did not identify Mulhern by name, but police had already named him in their arrest announcement the same day.
Mulhern, who police identified as a Clarksburg resident, was arrested April 16 and taken to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit. Police initially said he was awaiting a bond hearing. Follow-up court coverage reported that a judge granted him a $10,000 unsecured personal bond on April 17, meaning he would not have to pay the amount up front unless he failed to appear in court. NBC Washington reported that a judge also ordered him to stay away from minors, the internet and Walter Johnson High School while the case proceeds. The charge now filed is sex abuse of a minor, but detectives have said the investigation remains active, leaving open the possibility of additional charges if the device review turns up more recordings or evidence involving other victims. No public trial date was widely reported in the available coverage, and police have not said when they expect the forensic review of the seized devices to be complete.
The details have also pulled in people far beyond the criminal case file. Former students who used the theater dressing rooms have spoken publicly about the shock of learning where the camera was allegedly placed and how close that space was to the tech booth area where Mulhern worked. One former student told NBC Washington that the first reaction was wondering who might be on the recordings and whether friends had been filmed. A victims’ rights advocate, Jennifer Storm, told the station the students who found the camera likely stopped additional harm by bringing the footage forward. The case has also touched labor circles. Reporting by local outlets said Mulhern had held leadership roles in SEIU Local 500, and the union said it had moved to remove him from responsibilities pending the outcome of the investigation. For families at the school, the next steps are likely to unfold in two tracks at once: a court case focused on criminal liability and a broader evidence review that could answer the question hanging over the campus since the first camera was found — whether this was a single incident or part of a longer pattern.
For now, Mulhern remains charged and out on bond, school officials say he is off the job, and detectives are still reviewing seized devices. The next major milestone is expected to come in court and in any further police update on whether additional victims or charges are identified.
Author note: Last updated April 23, 2026.