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North Palm Beach officer charged with molesting teen

Palm Beach Post - 6/8/2020

The North Palm Beach police department's dog unit officer allegedly sexually molested an acquaintance over several years, starting when the person was 15, an arrest report says.

James A. Kaminksi, 44, was booked Friday afternoon at the Palm Beach County Jail and left Saturday afternoon on $50,000 bond, records show. West Palm Beach attorney Andrew Strecker, listed in court records as representing Kaminski, did not return a call Monday morning.

The village said Monday that, on learning of the allegations against Kaminski, he was placed on paid administrative leave and the agency asked the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office to conduct an investigation, which led to the charges.

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Kaminski has been with North Palm Beach police since 2003.

The village said the police department also is conducting an internal affairs investigation. It said its police department "places the highest priority on holding its employees accountable to the community it serves."

According to the PBSO report, in December 2019, the person, who now is 24, told police in upstate New York, where the person is in college, that Kaminski had conducted molestations starting in the summer of 2011.

The person said some of the incidents took place while Kaminski was in uniform.

Over several years in Palm Beach County, the accuser told police, Kaminski both fondled the person and at times conducted sex acts on himself.

The teen reported telling a friend and a sibling about the incidents. And the teen said Kaminski, while not overtly threatening the alleged victim, said the person should not tell the parents.

The accuser also said that, in January 2018, when the person was 23, Kaminski performed a sex act on himself in front of both the alleged victim and a 10-year-old.

The report redacted the name of the accuser, citing privacy rights for victims of sex crimes. It also redacted Kaminski's name, citing privacy rights for law enforcement officers.

ek@pbpost.com

@eliotkpbp

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