St. Francis official arrested for admitting students without consent

A St. Francis school employee has been arrested for allegedly recording a student on a cell phone without her knowledge. The criminal complaint states that officer Dimitri A. Kamolov recorded the student on his cell phone without her consent while she was in a private setting. According to the St. Francis Police Department, the incident was reported by St. Francis School District administrators on Sept. 4. The Wisconsin Department of Justice Criminal Investigation Division was called in to ensure an impartial investigation. Kamolov was arrested by DCI agents on September 24 and taken to the Milwaukee County Jail. The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office has charged him with two felony counts: intrusion into a privacy surveillance device and attempting to capture an intimate performance, each involving a victim under 18 years old. According to the investigation, Kamolov allegedly asked the student to try on T-shirts in his private office on the day of the incident. He then set up his cell phone to record her without her knowledge. The student noticed the phone recording and reported it to the principal. A review of Kamolov's cellphone revealed videos of the student trying on the shirt that he had emailed or texted to himself multiple times, including edited versions. Jeck Anderson, a current student at St. Francis High School, said he and his friends were shocked to learn of the allegations: “When I talked to him, he always seemed nice. He always seemed like a relaxed guy. To be honest, I didn’t really expect it,” Anderson said. “There are people in this world who seem normal at first glance, but once they disappear behind closed curtains or people stop talking to them, they turn into someone else,” said retired St. Francis Police Chief Brian Kaebisch, Cases Something like this can have an impact on community trust. “If these are genuine allegations and accusations, it is very disturbing. It's disgusting. And you know, you think about the sacrifice and the trust in the community, the trust in the police department, how it's affected by that, because it's definitely a stain on the entire community and the department,” Kaebisch said. Kamolov has worked for the department for 31 years, including the last four years as a part-time school resource officer. In a statement, the St. Francis Police Department said it was beginning the process to fire Kamolov: “We hold our officers to higher standards. We value the relationships, partnerships and trust we have built with our community, including individuals and businesses.” “Any behavior by our employees that jeopardizes that trust will never be tolerated,” the department said.