Miami Beach doctor raped teen girl, prosecutors say. Why were a dozen charges dropped?

A prominent Miami Beach doctor accused of human trafficking, drugging and raping a teen girl in his apartment in 2022 was facing a slew of charges. Prosecutors dropped all but one of the 13 charges after he agreed to surrender his medical license.

Jeffrey Kamlet, 69, was accused of giving cocaine to a 17-year-old girl twice before paying her for sexual favors. Prosecutors say he also offered to let the girl and her 16-year-old friend live with him at his home in the Green Diamond condominium building, 4775 Collins Ave.

Kamlet pleaded guilty to custodial interference, a third-degree felony, court records show. Custodial interference is when someone takes a minor from their lawful guardian.

As part of his plea deal, he was sentenced to a day of probation and ordered to give up his medical license. The other 12 felony charges — which included human trafficking of a minor, solicitation of a child and unlawful sexual activity with a minor — were dropped.

In a statement, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said that the case against Kamlet was “severely impacted” by the death of one of the victims and the “unwillingness” of the other victim to cooperate through the court process.

“The lack of testimony from the victims severely weakened the ability of prosecutors to prove all the filed charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” the statement said. “The victim’s next of kin approved the plea, which was presented to the court, indicating that such action would bring a sense of closure to the victim and her family.”

In June 2023, Local 10 reported that the remains of the girl in the case were found in the water where Little River crosses Northeast Second Avenue in El Portal. The Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed Thursday that the homicide bureau’s investigation into the death remains ongoing.

‘I’ll take care of you’

On April 27, 2022, the mother of one of the victims tracked the girl’s iPhone. At the time, a 17-year-old from Cooper City and her friend, a 16-year-old from Pembroke Pines, had been missing for at least a day.

The phone ping led Miami Beach police to Kamlet’s apartment, according to an arrest warrant.

Kamlet told officers, according to body camera footage, that “the two girls told him that some Black gentleman with a gun was trying to prostitute them and they asked [Kamlet] if they could stay here for a night to get away from him.”

The doctor then stated that he met the girls on Tinder and knew they were 18 because “they showed me their IDs,” the warrant says. After police found the girls hiding in a hallway closet, the Pembroke Pines girl claimed she was 18, and the Cooper City girl claimed she’d just turned 20.

Both said they didn’t have ID on them.

Kamlet told police “nothing sexual went on here,” according to the warrant. He went on to note that he was a doctor — who had pity for “girls that get addicted and prostituted.”

Florida Department of Health records show Kamlet became a licensed doctor in Florida in December 1988. The nationally recognized pain relief and addiction specialist was authorized to order medical marijuana and provide controlled substances to patients. The American Board of Addiction Medicine, which isn’t recognized by the Florida Board of Medicine, says he was certified in addiction medicine.

Months later, investigators spoke to both girls. The Pembroke Pines girl said her Cooper City friend “was being prostituted by a pimp” in April, according to the warrant. The Cooper City girl detailed how she met Kamlet on Tinder — and he subsequently paid her $600 to come to his place on April 27.

Upon the girl’s arrival, Kamlet provided cocaine “to relax her, as well as a plate, blade and straw” to snort the coke, the warrant states. She recalled that Kamlet ushered her to his bedroom, where he tied her to the bed and committed statutory rape without a condom.

Afterward, the girl said Kamlet made an offer: for her — and her friend — to live with him, police say. But there were two caveats: the girls had to follow his rules and avoid contacting the pimp.

“[Kamlet] had concerns with the pimp knowing his address and told her that if the pimp continued to harass them, he would have a couple of his guys take care of him,” the warrant says.

In August of that year, Kamlet again proffered the girl $600 for sex, according to the warrant. A friend drove her to Miami Beach, but dropped her off at the wrong spot. Shortly thereafter, Kamlet picked her up in his black Corvette.

The investigation by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force uncovered that Kamlet had a 2009 Corvette, also black, registered under his name.

Once at the apartment, the same cocaine-and-bedroom routine played out, the girl told police. When she tried to stop Kamlet’s advances, she said he grew irate and ordered an Uber to take her home, according to the warrant.

He only paid her $400.

“She stated that she asked him if he could give her “oxys,” which is short for oxycodone, to make up the difference,” the warrant says. “[Kamlet] told her yes, but she would need to give him back $100.”

The girl noted she kept the $400, and Kamlet gave her Xanax and several doses of Subutex “to help her with her withdrawals from opioids.”

She explained to investigators that she kept in touch with Kamlet via Telegram and Instagram. In an exchange that she screenshotted, Kamlet told her that they can own the world if she stays off drugs, according to the warrant.

“I’m super serious,” Kamlet wrote in a text, as per the warrant. “Stay in touch and I’ll take care of you if we have chemistry.”

Miami Herald staff writer David J. Neal contributed to this report