Judge Won’t Lower Bail for Child Abuse Suspect

A Municipal Court judge refused Friday to lower the $2-million bail of Kevin Wright Carney, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant and former Palmdale councilman charged with 17 felony counts of child molestation.

Carney’s wife, Kathleen, and the couple’s three adult children, Carleen, Travis and Clinton, made emotional pleas to have the bail reduced, saying Carney was innocent and would not pose a flight risk.

Kathleen Carney told Judge Sam Ohta she would “do anything to get my husband home.”

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

But Ohta, citing evidence on the charges, did not reduce the amount.

A 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the 48-year-old Carney has been held in Men’s Central Jail since Jan. 6, when he turned himself in to authorities.

He pleaded not guilty to the 17 felony charges and one misdemeanor charge of possession of child pornography.

Carney won a seat on the Palmdale City Council in November, just four days after his arrest in October when a 14-year-old girl told deputies he had molested her. Officials said the alleged sexual incidents began in 1990 when the girl was 6.

The charges against Carney include child molestation, sexual abuse and oral copulation. The alleged victims were all from the Antelope Valley and under 14 at the time of the incidents.

A preliminary hearing has been rescheduled for Jan. 27.