By Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.
Legally Reviewed by Allan M. Siegel, Partner
Published April 25, 2026 · Last Updated April 25, 2026
BETHESDA, MD — Our hearts are with the students and families of Walter Johnson High School. What has come to light in the past two weeks is the kind of breach of trust that no community should have to absorb, and certainly no child.
According to NBC Washington, WUSA9, The Baltimore Banner, and Bethesda Today, two students discovered a hidden camera in the theater control booth on April 7. The recording captured a Montgomery County Public Schools media services technician placing a camera in the girls’ changing room. Detectives have determined that the camera was recording in 2018, that four students were captured in various stages of undress, and that more than 100 electronic devices recovered from the school and the suspect’s home are now being analyzed by the Special Victims Investigations Division. The investigation is ongoing. Additional victims may yet be identified.
To the four students whose images were captured, to any others who may be identified in the coming weeks, and to every family in the Walter Johnson community asking hard questions tonight: this is what we know, what the law allows, and where we stand.
What We Believe
We believe that children in school have a right to expect that the adults entrusted with their education will not betray that trust. We believe that a changing room used by minors is among the most private spaces a school provides, and that the duty to keep it inviolate is one of the most basic obligations a school district owes its students. We believe that when an employee with credentials and access — an adult who knew exactly where the line was — chooses to cross that line, the institution that hired him, trained him, supervised him, and gave him keys does not get to step away from the consequences.
And we know, from direct experience in matters built on this exact architecture, that civil law gives victims a path to accountability the criminal process alone cannot provide.
Our Firm’s Direct Experience
The fact pattern emerging from Walter Johnson is not new to our firm. We have litigated it, in different settings, against different institutions, for more than a decade.
In 2014, our firm filed a class action lawsuit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on behalf of women secretly recorded by Rabbi Bernard “Barry” Freundel at the National Capital Mikvah in Georgetown. We served as co-counsel alongside Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight as appointed class counsel, with partners Ira Sherman, Joseph Cammarata, Allan M. Siegel, all counsel and significantly contributing to the litigation. The case named the perpetrator. It also named the religious institutions that had employed him, supervised him, and given him access — the Georgetown Synagogue–Kesher Israel Congregation, the National Capital Mikvah, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Beth Din of America. In October 2018, the Court approved a $14.25 million class action settlement. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia identified more than 150 women whom Freundel had videotaped.
When an institution hires an adult and places that adult in a position of trust over those it is supposed to protect, the law expects the institution to do the work — the vetting, the training, the supervision, the response to warning signs — that justifies that trust. When that work is not done, or is done poorly, civil accountability follows. That is not a theory. That is the result we obtained.
We have carried that lesson into other matters built on the same architecture of harm. Our firm filed and resolved a lawsuit in the D.C. Superior Court on behalf of six children and their parents against a District of Columbia charter school and its former teacher for sexual abuse of the children. We have represented developmentally disabled citizens of the District in litigation that led to systemic reform of the District’s group home system. And in Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997), partner Joseph Cammarata served as lead counsel before a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court that established the principle underlying every case our firm has brought since: no person, however powerful, stands above civil accountability for personal misconduct.
The thread running through these matters is not a marketing thread. It is a substantive one. Each case stood for the proposition that institutions are accountable for the harm they enable, and that the people they fail are entitled to be heard. That is the proposition we bring to the questions now confronting Walter Johnson.
Maryland Stands Decisively With Victims of Child Sexual Abuse
The most important thing we can say to families affected by what happened at Walter Johnson is this: Maryland law is on your side.
In 2023, the Maryland General Assembly enacted the Child Victims Act, which eliminated the civil statute of limitations entirely for claims arising from child sexual abuse. The Supreme Court of Maryland upheld the constitutionality of that Act in 2025. The practical meaning is straightforward: the recordings made in 2018 are not time-barred. The recordings discovered yesterday are not time-barred. Any recordings found in the months ahead, however old, are not time-barred. Maryland has decided, as a matter of public policy, that survivors of child sexual abuse should not lose their right to civil accountability because of the passage of time. We agree with that decision without reservation. However, there are limitations on making a claim against a County, and you must put the County on notice of any such claim within one year. There could also be other deadlines depending on the nature of the claim that you bring, so it is important to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible, so you don’t lose any rights.
Civil claims arising from facts like those alleged at Walter Johnson typically include intrusion upon seclusion — the Maryland tort that protects against intentional intrusion into the private affairs of another in a manner that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person — together with claims of negligent hiring, training, retention, and supervision against the institutional employer; premises liability for the failure to maintain reasonably safe conditions in spaces designated for changing; breach of fiduciary duty where the institution stood in a position of special trust; and statutory civil claims under Maryland’s privacy statutes. Procedural questions specific to Montgomery County Public Schools, including the interaction of the Local Government Tort Claims Act with the Child Victims Act, are real and require careful navigation.
Civil Accountability Is Separate from the Criminal Case
The criminal case, currently pending in Montgomery County District Court, is the State of Maryland’s case. It is brought to punish the defendant. It is decided on the highest standard the law knows — proof beyond a reasonable doubt — and the people most directly harmed are witnesses to it, not parties.
A civil claim is the victims’ case. It is decided on a lower standard, preponderance of the evidence. It can name the perpetrator and the institutions that employed him. It can proceed regardless of the outcome of the criminal case. And the relief it provides — financial recovery for emotional harm, mental health treatment, and the loss of privacy itself, with the possibility of punitive damages where the conduct was willful — is the relief most directly responsive to what the victims and their families have actually lost.
Families do not have to choose. The two paths run alongside each other.
To the Families: What We Have Learned in Matters Like This
We have walked families through litigation arising from secret recordings, institutional sexual abuse, and breaches of trust by adults in positions of authority for more than two decades. The path is rarely the same twice. The lessons are.
Get your child mental health support, and choose the clinician carefully. The Walter Johnson administration has made counselors, school psychologists, and social workers available, and we encourage families to use them. Pair that institutional support with independent care from a clinician experienced in sexual misconduct involving adolescents. The right mental health professional is not only essential to a child’s recovery; in our experience, that clinical relationship also produces the documentation of harm that civil litigation later relies on, even when no one in the family is thinking about litigation in the first weeks.
Take your time with the decision to file. Maryland’s Child Victims Act has eliminated the civil statute of limitations for these claims. There is no deadline pressuring a family’s choice. Many of the strongest civil cases we have brought were filed by clients who took months — sometimes years — to be ready. Readiness matters. Speed does not.
Speak carefully, and only after you have spoken with counsel. Communications with MCPS, with insurance representatives, with journalists, and on social media can shape later proceedings in ways that are not visible at the time. Recorded statements, casual emails, and well-intentioned posts have all complicated matters we have handled. A consultation with experienced counsel first does not commit a family to litigation. It preserves the family’s full range of options.
Preserve every document. Letters from Principal Morgan. Communications from MCPS or its counsel. Contact with the Special Victims Investigations Division. Notes on how and when your family learned of the recording. Mental health treatment records and bills. Keep them organized. They will matter.
You are part of a community now, whether you want to be or not. Other families are asking the same questions tonight. The families who navigate this kind of moment well do so together — through trusted relationships, shared resources, and the support of a school community that has already shown its character in the courage of the two students who came forward. Lean on that.
Where We Stand
We are here for any family of a Walter Johnson student or any community member with questions, to talk — in confidence, without obligation, and at no cost — about what the law allows and what families in similar matters have found useful to know. If our firm is the right fit, families will know it. If not, we will help point the way to counsel who is.
To the students who found the camera and brought it to a teacher: thank you. Your courage matters more than you know, and you have already done more for your community than many adults manage in a lifetime. To the school staff who responded immediately and reported what was found to law enforcement: thank you for making the call without hesitation. To the families now waiting on what the investigation reveals: we are here when you are ready, in whatever capacity is most useful, and on whatever timeline serves your family best.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has your firm handled cases involving secret recording in spaces where people expected privacy?
Yes. We served as co-counsel in the National Capital Mikvah class action against Rabbi Bernard Freundel and the institutions that employed him, which resulted in a $14.25 million settlement approved by the D.C. Superior Court in 2018. Our firm has also handled cases involving sexual abuse of minors in school and institutional settings, including a settled lawsuit against a District of Columbia charter school and its former teacher.
Is there a deadline for victims of the Walter Johnson recordings to file civil claims?
Under the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023, which the Supreme Court of Maryland upheld in 2025, there is no statute of limitations for civil claims arising from child sexual abuse in Maryland. Recordings made in 2018 are not time-barred. Recordings discovered now are not time-barred. Families can take the time they need. However, Local Government Tort Claims Act requires notice to Montgomery County, within within one year. It is also possible that other deadlines may apply, depending on the nature of the claims that are brought, so it is important to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible, if you think you, or your child may have been harmed.
Can a civil claim name MCPS or only the individual?
Civil claims in cases like this may name both the individual perpetrator and the institutional employer. The institution can be held responsible on theories of negligent hiring, training, retention, and supervision; premises liability; and in some circumstances breach of fiduciary duty. Procedural questions specific to Montgomery County Public Schools require experienced counsel.
How is a civil claim different from the criminal case?
The criminal case is the State of Maryland’s case and seeks to punish the defendant. A civil claim is the victims’ case and seeks compensation for the harm caused. The two operate on parallel tracks; a family does not have to choose between them.
What kinds of damages may be available in a civil voyeurism case?
Compensable damages typically include emotional distress, mental health treatment costs, and the loss of privacy itself. Punitive damages may be available where the conduct was willful. The amount varies substantially based on the facts of each case and the harm proven.
About Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.
Founded in 1969 and based at 1232 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C., Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. is a personal injury and civil rights law firm practicing across Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The firm has recovered more than $1 billion for our clients across catastrophic injury, civil rights, institutional abuse, and wrongful death matters. Our partners include four past presidents of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. The firm is rated Best Law Firms — Regional Tier 1 by U.S. News & World Report and holds the highest AV® rating from Martindale-Hubbell®.
If you are the parent of a Walter Johnson High School student, a former student, or anyone affected by this matter, we are available to speak with you in confidence and without obligation at (202) 659-8600. Consultations are free.
This post reflects the firm’s commentary on a matter of public record and an ongoing criminal investigation. It is not intended as legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Allegations described in this post are pending in the criminal courts and have not been adjudicated. Readers with specific legal questions should consult qualified counsel.
