A Montgomery County District Court judge set bond at $10,000 for a school employee accused of secretly filming theater students changing at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda.

Judge Patrick Mays granted the unsecured bond for James Mulhern III, of Clarksburg, on Friday. Mulhern is charged with sex abuse of a minor.

Unsecured bonds don’t have to be paid unless the defendant fails to show up for a court hearing. However, Mays imposed restrictions on Mulhern, including barring him from contact with minors, from access to electronic devices that can connect to the internet, from contacting witnesses and from Walter Johnson’s campus. Mulhern appeared at the hearing over videoconference.

Because there is a minor living at his home, Mulhern will have to live with a relative at a different location where he will be confined 24-7, the judge said.

Multiple members of Mulhern’s family attended the hearing Friday. They declined to comment.

Public Defender Claudia Benz said during the hearing that Mulhern has never had contact with the criminal justice system. She asked that her client be released with conditions.

Assistant State’s Attorney Rachel Morris asked that Mulhern be held in jail without bond because he “put himself in a position where he could essentially prey on young people without their knowledge.”

She added that, because a statement Mulhern gave to police indicated he was attracted to some students, the investigation may expand.

“We do believe that this is only the beginning of an investigation into other images,” Morris said.

Mulhern is a media services technician whose job duties included teaching students about equipment and lighting. He also provided tech support for plays and musicals at the high school, according to court records.

A Thursday letter from Walter Johnson High School Principal Nicole Morgan said an unnamed staff member had been placed on leave without pay, pending the outcome of the police investigation.

Mulhern went from a school employee to a criminal suspect after two students found a video camera in a control booth at the school’s theater April 7. School district staff notified police Wednesday.

“One of the students viewed the contents of the memory card and saw videos recorded inside the girls’ changing room in the theater area,” Montgomery County Police said in a news release.

The video also showed a man placing a camera and leaving the room while it was recording. Shortly after, “teenage girls entered the room and began changing clothes for a theater performance,” police said.

A student emailed the videos to the school’s principal, who identified the suspect as Mulhern, 43. When he spoke to police, he initially denied wrongdoing but then acknowledged he was the man seen in screenshots setting up a camera in a changing room and then returning to turn it off.

He also told police he had an “attraction to multiple students while working at Walter Johnson High School,” court records said.

Detectives on Wednesday executed a search warrant at the high school, “where items of evidentiary value were recovered,” police said.

Electronic devices were also collected from Mulhern’s home via a search warrant.

Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said after the hearing that the investigation is ongoing and there are digital files to be probed.

“I’m not going to speculate where it’s going to go,” McCarthy said.

Brigid Howe, president of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, attended Friday’s hearing.

Howe said she was disappointed Mulhern would be released from jail but the conditions imposed on him will keep children safe. She added that she’s bracing for the possibility of more victims.

“The State’s Attorney’s Office made it clear there could potentially be more victims uncovered,” she said. “I hope that’s not the case, but I’m prepared that it might be.”