'Jeopardy!' Champion Arrested, Accused Of Installing Hidden Bathroom Camera

A former "Jeopardy!" contestant who enjoyed a two-day winning streak last year has been arrested in North Carolina, accused of secretly recording someone by installing a hidden camera inside a bathroom. Philip Joseph “Joey” DeSena earned attention from "Jeopardy!" fans upon his debut on November 11, 2024, winning that night and again on November 12 before being defeated on November 13. His performance secured him a return spot in January’s Champions Wildcard tournament, where he advanced to the semifinals. Now, his rising trivia profile has been overshadowed by the disturbing allegations.

DeSena was taken into custody last Monday in Maple, N.C., according to the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office. Court documents allege he placed a camera inside a bathroom on October 10 with the intent to record someone without their knowledge or consent, the New York Post reports.

DeSena, a software developer from Raleigh, was charged with two counts of felony secret peeping. He posted $5,000 bail on Wednesday and is scheduled to appear in court this week. Investigators say he “unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously” installed a device capable of capturing photographic images “with the intent to capture the image of another without their consent.”

DeSena’s arrest comes just months after another former "Jeopardy!" contestant, New York City math teacher Winston Nguyen, was sentenced to seven years in prison for catfishing his own students and soliciting explicit images from minors. Nguyen, who won "Jeopardy!" in 2014, had already been convicted of stealing over $300,000 from an elderly couple before being hired at the elite Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn. Despite strong opposition from some administrators, he rose through the ranks and eventually taught math and even a seminar called “Crime and Punishment.”

Parents were never informed of his criminal history. Students later uncovered old news articles about his fraud conviction, prompting concern, which witnesses say were dismissed by school leadership. Some parents reported they feared being labeled “racist” or “not progressive enough” if they pushed back on the school’s decision to hire Nguyen.

In 2022, teens across Brooklyn began receiving anonymous Snapchat messages soliciting inappropriate photos. Some victims were as young as 13. The District Attorney alerted the school in February 2024 that an investigation was underway, but parents again were not notified.

Nguyen was ultimately arrested in June 2024 and charged with multiple sex-related offenses. The administrator who most strongly advocated for his hiring, Maureen “Mo” Yusuf-Morales, later left Saint Ann’s for a Brooklyn charter school.

Another dark chapter in "Jeopardy!" history involves Paul Curry, a nuclear engineer and former contestant whose case remains one of the most shocking ever linked to the show. Curry was convicted in 2014 for the 1994 nicotine-poisoning death of his wife, Linda Curry (also known as Linda Kinkade), in what prosecutors described as a calculated murder driven by a life-insurance payout.

Despite the crime occurring two decades earlier, investigators eventually uncovered enough evidence to bring Curry to trial, leading to a guilty verdict and a life sentence. The case stunned both the true-crime community and longtime fans of the game show, marking one of the most serious criminal convictions ever involving a former game-show contestant.

Though Curry’s case stands apart in its severity, other "Jeopardy!" contestants have also found themselves on the wrong side of the law over the years.

In 2018, former champion Stephanie Jass was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to unauthorized computer access. Jass, who had won a record-setting seven games during her run, admitted to hacking into multiple email accounts at Adrian College, where she had been a faculty member.

And while the case didn’t involve violence, it proved once again that even beloved quiz-show champs aren’t immune to real-world scandals.

As for DeSena, his case is now in the hands of the court. Authorities have not released details about who discovered the camera, what it may have recorded, or what evidence was recovered.

He is expected to make his first court appearance sometime today, Wednesday, December 10.