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PHIL LaPADULA
Friday, October 29, 2004
FORT LAUDERDALE — Bill Kamal, chief meteorologist
at the South Florida TV station WSVN Channel 7 for the past 10 years since leaving
D.C.’s WUSA Channel 9, was arrested Oct. 24 for allegedly soliciting sex
from a minor under the age of 16.
A judge on Wednesday denied bond in the case.
Kamal, who is gay, was allegedly caught in an online undercover sting operation
targeting pedophiles and child pornographers.
WUSA fired Kamal in 1992 after he had worked for the station for more than
11 years.
He was arrested Sunday afternoon at a convenience store in Fort Pierce, Fla.,
where police say he went to meet a 14-year-old male with whom he had talked
in an online chat room.
That “teen” turned out to be undercover agent Neil W. Spector,
a detective with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office and a member of
the Law Enforcement Against Child Harm Task Force.
According to the arrest affidavit, Kamal admitted traveling to Fort Pierce
to meet a 14-year-old but denied that he intended to have sex with him. He said
that he just wanted to give the child love and be a father to him, the affidavit
said.
Kamal was fired from his job at WSVN on Monday, the same day that federal charges
were filed against him for allegedly using the Internet to entice a minor for
sex.
WSVN issued a one-sentence statement about Kamal’s termination.
“We have no other alternative but to dismiss Bill Kamal for cause,”
wrote Robert W. Leider, executive vice president and general manager of Sunbeam
Television/WSVN.
Lily Pardo, director of public relations for WSVN, said the station was “not
granting any interviews” on the Kamal case and would have nothing more
to say about it.
According to the arrest affidavit, on the afternoon of Oct. 18, Det. Spector
was portraying a 14-year-old gay teen in an America Online chat room called
“Boyzformen” when he received an instant message from Kamal.
Using the screen name “Morethandick,” Kamal allegedly wrote that
he was a “masc., lean, ripped body, older looking 4 a son.”
Det. Spector wrote back that he was a 14-year-old teen from Fort Pierce, the
affidavit says. Continuing to portray an underage teen, Spector wrote that he
had only had sex once, with a 35-year-old man, and that his mother didn’t
know about it.
According to the affidavit, Kamal listed for the “teen” a number
of explicit sexual acts he enjoys.
Kamal wrote, “im really lookin 4 a real son … not just to trade
pics and never speak again … im not just lookin 4 quick sex,” the
affidavit says.
Between Oct. 18 and Oct. 24, Kamal allegedly corresponded with Spector’s
fictitious persona several times by instant message, e-mail and telephone. Sometimes
Kamal initiated the contacts, but at other times Spector initiated them, according
to the affidavit.
During one chat at 6:42 p.m. on Oct. 18, Kamal said that he wanted to meet
and give oral sex to the boy, the affidavit said.
Bruce Johnson, a D.C. resident and friend of Kamal’s, said he is waiting
to hear Kamal’s side of the story.
“I’m shocked about it,” Johnson said. “It just doesn’t
seem his style. He’s a kind person and no one’s heard his side of
the story yet.”
Johnson said he last spoke to Kamal about six months ago and that Kamal had
a boyfriend at the time.
Kamal was arrested as he walked out of his black Jaguar at a convenience store
in Fort Pierce. The officers present at the scene included Spector and Agent
Christopher Harvey of the Homeland Security Department.
According to the affidavit, Kamal waived his Miranda rights and admitted during
an interview that his computer contained about a dozen images of children under
18 engaging in sex. He also admitted communicating with other teenagers via
the Internet, the affidavit says.
Kamal’s arrest is the second high-profile South Florida case in two months
involving gay men and online sting operations. In both cases, the same detective,
Neil Spector, portrayed an underage person in an online chat room.
In late August, Kenneth Wilk, a Fort Lauderdale gay man, alleged shot to death
Broward Sheriff’s Det. Todd Fatta as officers attempted to serve a search
warrant for child pornography at Wilk’s residence.
Wilk was reportedly angry with police over the February 2001 arrest of his
boyfriend, Kelly Ray Jones, who was charged with soliciting sex with a minor.
Jones was arrested at a hotel in St. Lucie County when he went to meet a 12-year-old
boy for sex. That fictitious boy turned out to be Spector.
Mark Weinberg, public information officer for the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s
Office, insisted that the LEACH Task Force is not targeting gay men in online
chat rooms.
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