Defendant testifies in sex sting case
Man accused of arranging tryst with teenage girl
Two years ago, Dante Camacho drove to a Colonie hotel room carrying condoms to meet a man who told him that he and his 13-year-old stepdaughter wanted a third person to join their “party.”
It was a sting – the man was an undercover cop – and State Police arrested Camacho for allegedly trying to arrange sex with a child.
Two years later, Camacho, 23, is on trial in Albany County Court
charged with attempted rape and attempted criminal sex act, the legal term for sodomy. Camacho spent Monday and Tuesday testifying in his own defense.
Dressed in a sweater, dress shirt and tie and speaking softly, Camacho painted the child sex sting case as one big misunderstanding involving “locker room talk” — the term future President Donald Trump used during the 2016 campaign to describe a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording of Trump boasting about grabbing women’s genitals.
“At no point in time did I think that was a 13-year-old,” Camacho testified. He said a photo of the would-be girl that he received from the undercover officer “easily” looked like a person who was at least 18.
Camacho testified as his family sat in the front row of the thirdfloor courtroom of County Judge Peter Lynch, who could give the case to the jury as soon as Wednesday following closing arguments.
Camacho repeatedly testified he thought it was a “role-playing situation” and that he was interested in having a “threesome” with adults.
He said he thought he was meeting an adult named “Chad” and that man’s adult girlfriend. Even though “Chad” did not mention an adult girlfriend — the undercover cop said he was married and was sleeping with his 13-year-old stepdaughter — Camacho said the undercover cop led him to believe it was a girlfriend.
And Camacho scoffed at the notion he went to the Radisson hotel on Wolf Road on Nov. 11, 2016, to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. His insistence came in the face of potentially incriminating text messages with the undercover officer who, at least twice, told Camacho the stepdaughter was 13.
Camacho bought condoms for the encounter, a receipt of which was found on him. At one point, Camacho told the undercover officer, “I would love to get some one-on-one with (the girl). Yeah man, that sounds awesome.”
Testimony showed Camacho and the undercover officer both used graphic and X-rated language while discussing the description of the girl and possible scenarios. Camacho said it was “locker room talk.”
On the day of his arrest, Camacho testified he nearly left the hotel and went home. He said he remained and knocked on the hotel room door because in the event a child was in danger and he left without trying to stop it, “I could not live with that.”
If convicted, Camacho faces charges that each carry up to four years in prison. Sting cases often do not make it to trial because the evidence — defendants showing up in person — can be tough to refute. One of the area’s most high-profile cases took place in 2008 when exassemblyman Christopher Ortloff, at the time a commissioner on the state parole board, was busted in an undercover sting at a Colonie motel trying to arrange sex with two girls through their “mother,” a State Police undercover officer.
In Camacho’s case, the sequence of events laid out in court began on Oct. 24, 2016, when Camacho said he wanted to get back at his live-in girlfriend who, according to Camacho, had cheated on him. He testified he met “Chad” in the casual encounters section of craigslist.com and hoped to have a three-way sexual encounter with a woman and man.
The ad stated: “Older and younger looking for fun in Albany area. Stepfather here and we’re into some strange things so please do not judge. Contact me only if you are real.”
Camacho responded: “Hey there. The stranger the better. I don’t judge. I love everything taboo. What things you have in mind? I’m Dante by the way.”
The undercover wrote back: “Me and my 13-year-old stepdaughter are looking for a third to join our party. Must be (drug and disease) free. No judgement here. Hit me back if interested.”
On Monday, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Mccanney asked Camacho: “When Chad says to you, ‘Me and my 13-year-old
stepdaughter are looking for a third to join our party,’ you know that ‘party’ means sex, right?” “No,” Camacho replied. “No? You think he’s talking about a birthday party with a 13-year-old?” Mccanney pressed.
Camacho’s lawyer, Cheryl Coleman, objected.
Mccanney noted the undercover officer texted Camacho a photo of the would-be stepdaughter. She said Camacho asked, in response, “So I’ve got to ask, how did this happen?”
“You’re asking him how did it happen that he began to have sex with his 13-year-old stepdaughter, right?” the prosecutor asked Camacho.
“Absolutely not,” he replied. Under cross-examination, Camacho repeatedly said he was confused at times during his text communications. He acknowledged that he suspected at times the man could have been having sex with a 13-year-old.
“If you’re so confused as to what’s going on, are you continuing to talk to him though?” Mccanney asked.
“Yes,” he replied. Camacho said on the day of his arrest, he remembered approaching the door of the hotel room and knocking. He said he remembered he entered, a large man was inside and that he was arrested. He said what happened in the hotel room is a blur and he called it a traumatic experience.
Camacho had told police, “This is already ruining my life ... I just wanted to do the right thing and now I could not be in a more terrible position.”
“That’s because you knew you were being arrested for trying to have sex with a 13-year-old girl, right?” Mccanney asked Camacho.
“No. I didn’t know exactly why I had been arrested. No one was really explaining anything to me at that time,” Camacho testified.
“If this was a role-playing exercise and you were going to have sex with two consenting adults, would that have been illegal?” the prosecutor asked Camacho. “No,” he answered.
“Is having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old illegal?” Mccanney asked.
“Absolutely,” Camacho replied.