Hon. Fernando Camacho
The Honorable Fernando Camacho obtained his undergraduate degree from Columbia College and attended Fordham Law School where he graduated in 1985. He then joined the Manhattan District Attorney's Office where he worked in the Trial Division, the Sex Crimes Unit and the Homicide Unit. In 1991, he was promoted to Senior Trial Counsel and assigned to the Homicide Investigation Unit, a joint state and federal task force, where he directed long-term investigations and prosecutions of violent gangs.
In 1997, he became a New York City Criminal Court Judge and began his judicial career in Brooklyn. In 2002, he was assigned to Queens County where he served as the Deputy Supervising Judge and presided over the Domestic Violence Court. In 2003, he created a treatment court for teenagers charged with prostitution. That court was the spark that led to the creation of the present day Human Trafficking Intervention Courts which operate throughout New York State.
In 2008, he was appointed to the New York State Court of Claims and served as an Acting Supreme Court Justice in the Integrated Domestic Violence Court in Queens County Supreme Court. In 2009, the Chief Judge promoted him to the position of County Administrative Judge for Criminal Matters. While serving as administrative judge he also presided over the Queens County Supreme Court Youth Diversion Part, a specialized court for adolescents charged with felony offenses.
In January 2013, he was assigned to Suffolk County Supreme Court where he created the Suffolk County Felony Youth Part, which provides alternatives to incarceration for young people charged with felonies in Suffolk County Supreme Court.
Over the last fifteen years Judge Camacho has frequently advocated for the enactment of legislation to protect victims of criminal sexual exploitation. He has been a speaker at numerous state and national anti-trafficking conferences and training seminars on the topics of human trafficking, sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of youth.
