Councilman Pleads Not Guilty to Molestations

Palmdale City Councilman Kevin Carney, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant, pleaded not guilty Thursday to 17 felony counts of child molestation and one misdemeanor count of possessing child pornography.

Carney, a 23-year sheriff’s veteran who was elected to the Palmdale City Council in November, surprised authorities by turning himself in at a downtown courtroom.

Wearing a blue business suit, Carney, 48, was quiet and appeared tired. An arrest warrant had been issued for him Wednesday when prosecutors filed charges.

In court Thursday, Carney’s defense attorney, Milton C. Grimes, argued the $2-million bail was unfair because Carney had already been arrested Oct. 29 and had posted a $100,000 bond.

“They had the same information from the beginning,” Grimes said, holding Carney’s arm. “Two million is excessive; there is no ground for justification.”

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver said investigators did not learn about all the alleged victims and the child pornography until after Carney’s October arrest, which occurred just four days before his election to the council.

“When you have one child, you have a doubt, two children, less doubt, four children, there is no doubt at all,” Dver said.

Municipal Judge Sam Ohta said prosecutors did nothing wrong by raising the bond to $2 million, and set a Jan. 14 hearing to review the bail.

The charges against Carney, who is married and the father of three, involve four girls from the Antelope Valley who were younger than 14 at the time of the alleged incidents.

The alleged crimes are believed to have taken place while Carney was off duty. He was assigned to the Lancaster sheriff’s station at the time. He has been on paid leave since his October arrest, and has since filed papers to retire.

Prosecutors conducted an investigation after his arrest in October, when the most recent alleged victim, a 14-year-old girl, went to the Lancaster sheriff’s station and said Carney had molested her. Officials said the alleged sexual incidents with the girl began in April 1990 when she was 6 and continued until she turned 14 last year.

Two other girls, 8 and 7 at the time, were allegedly molested from June 1, 1996, through March 7, 1997.

When the D.A.’s office began investigating the 14-year-old’s allegations, they learned of a fourth girl who said she had been molested in September 1994, Dver said.

Carney is the third Antelope Valley deputy arrested in connection with an alleged child-related sex crime.

“There is no connection between any of the incidents, any of the deputies or any of the victims,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Garry Leonard. “They all appear to be isolated, individual incidents. One is unacceptable, let alone three.”

On Tuesday, Deputy Douglas Mills, 33, who is assigned to the Lancaster station, was charged with felony child molestation of a 12-year-old girl. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

In October, Steven Brown, 41, a deputy with the Palmdale station, was charged with using the Internet to meet someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl for sex. Brown allegedly sent an undercover FBI agent sexually explicit messages and was arrested at a West Los Angeles mall where he had planned to meet the girl. He has pleaded not guilty.

If Carney is convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

A conviction of any felony would also force him to give up his council seat, said Cesar Bertaud, Palmdale senior deputy city attorney.

Carney would also have to vacate his post if he is absent from council meetings without permission for 60 days, Bertaud said. Carney did not attend Wednesday night’s meeting.

Carney was being held in a county jail Thursday night in segregated quarters because he could be targeted by other inmates as a law enforcement officer and an alleged child molester.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 19.