High school employee arrested, charged with recording students in changing room, police say

BETHESDA, Md. - A Montgomery County high school employee has been arrested and charged after allegedly recording students inside a changing room at Walter Johnson High School, authorities said.

What we know:

Detectives say 43‑year‑old James Mulhern III, a media services technician at the school, secretly recorded underage girls as they changed clothes for a theater performance.

The investigation began after two students found a video camera in the control booth of the school’s theater and viewed the contents of its memory card. 

The videos showed the girls’ changing room and captured a man placing the camera before leaving the area. Moments later, several teenage girls entered and began changing.

One of the students emailed the videos to the school’s principal, who identified the man in the footage as Mulhern.

Detectives executed search warrants earlier this month at the school and at Mulhern’s home in Clarksburg, seizing several electronic devices.

Mulhern was arrested and charged with sex abuse of a minor. He was taken to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, where he is awaiting a bond hearing.