US Navy Servicemember Arrested After Soliciting Undercover Detectives Posing as Minors

A United States service member was arrested following an online sting operation targeting suspected child predators.

The Stuart Police Department in Martin County, Florida, announced in a Facebook post on Thursday, October 8, that it had taken Joshua Kubinski into custody as part of an ongoing investigation launched in July by detectives assigned to the department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

Kubinski was reportedly in Key West, Florida, for work when he allegedly engaged in inappropriate online conversations with two people he believed were minors. However, he was actually communicating with two undercover Stuart Police detectives posing as minors. During those conversations, the Stuart Police Department noted that Kubinski allegedly revealed that he was serving in the United States Navy, which investigators were later confirmed.

Eventually, investigators had all they needed to push for an arrest. Stuart Police worked closely with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to obtain two arrest warrants for Kubinski. The warrants included charges of transmission of harmful material to a minor, online solicitation of a minor and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.

Police did not provide details about the content of Kubinski’s alleged conversations with the undercover detectives.

He was arrested in Virginia last month on September 25.

“The Stuart Police Department remains committed to protecting children from online exploitation and holding those who attempt to harm minors accountable,” police concluded in their statement to the public on Facebook.