A former Chicago music executive faces further criminal charges for secretly taping women who worked for him.
Michael Johnston, 38, is accused of installing hidden cameras in the bathrooms of his Roscoe Village home. The new allegations are based on images of two other women found on camera SIM cards that had been turned into Chicago police.
Johnston was originally charged last November with the unauthorized videotaping of his nanny and her friend while they were naked in the bathrooms of his upscale home.
After NBC5 Investigates reported the allegations, Johnston was fired as president of Schuba’s Tavern and Lincoln Hall and as CEO of music streaming service Audiotree.
Chicago attorney Gail Eisenberg is representing the women in their civil lawsuit. “These women are extremely brave,” Eisenberg said, adding that there is a recording of Johnston setting up the hidden cameras in the bathrooms.
The new allegations come from a former housekeeper and a woman who held Johnston’s job. According to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, a woman sat for two days in November 2019 and police found two naked video recordings of her in the master bathroom.
The other woman, a former housekeeper, is seen in footage cleaning the house nine times in November 2019 and January 20 and was fully clothed in all videos, according to court records.
Johnston faces two criminal charges of unauthorized videotaping. In Illinois, it is illegal for anyone to record or transmit live video of another person without their consent in a bathroom.
Johnston has pleaded not guilty to the original charges and is due back in court on the new charges next month.
Johnston’s attorney told NBC5 Investigates he takes all of these allegations seriously and will continue to follow the legal process.
Eisenberg said his clients will always wonder if someone with a camera is watching, no matter where they are.
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