Convicted child molester released into Madera County. Why was he deemed non-threatening?

Reality Check is a Fresno Bee series holding those in power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email tips@fresnobee.com.

A man convicted of multiple sexual crimes against a child was released into Madera County on Wednesday to live with family members after a Merced judge ruled that he no longer poses a risk – despite three court-appointed doctors saying otherwise.

Ciro Camacho, 68, served time in prison and then nearly two decades in the California State Hospital in Coalinga. He was convicted in 1993 of two counts of “lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age” and one count of “continuous sexual abuse of a child.”

Merced Superior Court Judge Stephanie Jamieson ruled May 16 that Camacho could be released from the state hospital and would be on parole for 20 years.

But Sally Moreno, the Madera County district attorney, told The Fresno Bee on Thursday that it was later determined Camacho’s time on parole was already completed.

“This decision is directly sending a convicted child molester back into our society with no monitoring, no accountability,” Moreno said.

Merced Superior Court Executive Officer Amanda Toste did not immediately respond to The Bee’s emails Thursday requesting comment about the ruling.

Court records show Camacho was committed to the California State Hospital in 2005, when he was determined to be a “sexually violent predator.” The legal classification applies to offenders “found to have mental disorders that make them likely to re-offend after release from prison” and authorizes their “involuntary commitment,” according to court records.

Last Thursday, the Merced judge ruled that Camacho should no longer be classified as a “sexually violent predator,” according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, which announced in social media posts that it argued against his release.

“The District Attorney’s Office presented evidence from three experts who testified they believed that Camacho should still be classified as a Sexually Violent Predator and was not safe to be released,” the office said on social media.

The Merced County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to The Bee’s requests for comment Wednesday and Thursday.

“To say that I’m extremely disappointed is an understatement that she would disregard three state-appointed experts and release this dangerous individual into our community,” Moreno, the Madera County district attorney, said about the judge’s ruling.

Moreno confirmed that Camacho made statements that he has family in Madera and plans to stay with them. Megan’s Law, the state’s online database that tracks convicted sex offenders, did not show an updated location for Camacho on Thursday. The Madera County Sheriff’s Office told The Bee on Thursday that Camacho has made an appointment with the office to register his new address, as required by law.

“We are fully committed to enforcing all state registration requirements and keeping the public informed,” Sheriff Tyson Pogue said last week on social media.

State sought ‘indefinite commitment’

In 2005, Camacho was involuntarily committed to the California State Hospital in Coalinga for two years after a trial that began in 2002, court records show. In 2006, an amendment to the state’s Sexually Violent Predator Act allowed for these offenders to be committed indefinitely instead of for renewable two-year terms.

The state filed a petition seeking Camacho’s “indefinite commitment” to a state facility in 2007. Camacho’s re-commitment trial was delayed for years and his attorneys in 2022 argued in court in that he was denied his right to speedy proceedings.

Throughout those years, Camacho’s case underwent dozens of hearings – sometimes several dozen per year – and numerous doctors continued to find that he still met the conditions to be classified as a “sexually violent predator.”

“In 2015, one out of four expert reports concluded – for the first time ever – that Camacho no longer met the criteria for commitment, and two of the other reports seemed to suggest he might qualify for conditional release in the future,” court records state.

Camacho was not personally present for hearings between 2010 and 2018. He first demanded a speedy trial in 2018.

The California Supreme Court ruled in August that Camacho was not denied a speedy trial because the continuation of his case was caused mostly by his own legal team’s requests throughout the years.