A Michigan church leader has been arrested and fired after allegedly confessing to putting a hidden camera inside a church bathroom to peep on other employees, according to his church.
Will Johnson, 37, the worship pastor director of 2|42 Community Church in Brighton, just north of Ann Arbor, was busted Friday when a staff member found the hidden camera inside “a non-public, unisex bathroom in the (church’s) backstage area,” executive pastor of ministry operations Eric Rauch told The Detroit News.
Confronted by other church leaders, Johnson confessed to placing the camera there — prompting his immediate dismissal, Rauch said.
Johnson then also admitted to Livingston County Sheriff’s detectives that he had hidden the camera in the church bathroom, according to the report.
Johnson told detectives he placed the camera in the bathroom intermittently over the past two years, targeting specific church employees known to use that bathroom, the report said.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by this situation, as the protection, safety and privacy of every person who enters our church is our priority,” Rauch told the outlet.
The church “is cooperating fully with the sheriff’s office investigation and is taking proactive steps, including engaging with a third-party investigator, to ensure the safety of all our facilities,” he said.
Johnson was charged on Sunday with tampering with evidence, surveilling an unclothed person — a felony — and using a computer to commit a crime.
He is being held at the Livingston County Jail, where his bond is set at $250,000.
If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison for the tampering with evidence charge, up to two years for surveilling an unclothed person and up to two years for using a computer to commit a crime.
His next court hearing was set for Sept. 24.
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