Final Molestation Charges Against Official Dropped

Prosecutors dropped all remaining charges Monday against Kevin Carney, the former Palmdale city councilman, school board president and veteran child abuse investigator.

Carney, acquitted of several charges by a jury last month, was elated by his victory, angry at his accusers and relieved, most of all, that his criminal case is finally over.

“Today is a day to be thankful,” Carney said, squeezing the hand of his wife, Kathleen.

Carney, 49, credited his Catholic faith for strength throughout the 3 1/2 years since molestation allegations surfaced against him in 1997 when he was running for mayor.

At that time, Carney was the sergeant in charge of supervising child abuse cases in the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a position from which he eventually resigned. After charges were filed against him in 1999, just days before his election to the Palmdale City Council, Carney decided to resign from that post too.

“Everything that I had, I worked for my entire life, except for my friends and family, has been taken away from me,” Carney said. But, he added, “when you place your trust in God, he will see you through.”

Prosecutors announced Monday that they will not retry Carney, who has three children.

Carney had been charged with 16 molestation-related offenses, including rape. In November, a jury acquitted him of four charges and deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of acquittal on the remaining counts.

During his trial, four girls told inconsistent and sometimes contradictory stories. The girls also were laughing, seemed happy and showed a complete absence of trauma while on the witness stand, said Carney’s defense attorney, Marie Alex.

Sensing that a retrial would be doomed, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver recommended dismissal. “It was a very intelligent and wise decision by the new district attorney not to pursue this case,” said Carney’s defense attorney, Milton Grimes.

Carney steamed over what he believed to be prosecutorial zeal that “went too far.”

“I knew I was innocent . . . but to some people, the question of guilt or innocence is irrelevant,” Carney said. “[Prosecutors] took the philosophy of, if you threw enough charges at the wall, maybe something would stick.”

His chief accuser was a 15-year-old girl who was raised by a friend of Carney. According to testimony, the girl looked up to Carney as a father figure. He bought her gifts, took her to the movies, picked her up from school and became her confidant.

“Who would’ve known it would be twisted around into something so ugly,” Carney said. Kathleen Carney said her husband is “just so good to everybody.” Neighborhood children frequented the Carneys’ house to see pet turtles in a backyard pond and an upstairs den.

Legal Bills Total $100,000

In his experience supervising more than 7,000 child abuse investigations, Carney said, he knows children sometimes make false allegations. But typically his investigators would either not turn the case over to the district attorney’s office, or prosecutors would decline to file charges.

The former councilman said Monday that he would never again run for office. The allegations in 1997 and 1999 were made shortly before election day.

Now retired from the Sheriff’s Department, Carney has been trying to make ends meet and pay his legal bills--which he said total more than $100,000--by selling vintage license plates and plastic model kits on the Internet.

He also plans to write a book about his experience to educate the public about false accusations by children, Carney said.

“It’s going to be called ‘Framing the Turtle Man.’ ”