1 Charge Dropped Against Carney
Prosecutors dropped a lewd-act charge Wednesday against former Palmdale City Councilman and retired Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Wright Carney, who is accused of molesting four Antelope Valley girls, according to the district attorney’s office.
Carney, 49, will still face 16 other felony child molestation-related counts in his trial, for which jury selection is expected to begin today.
He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted of all counts.
Some of the alleged molestations date back a decade. During preliminary hearings, a sheriff’s sergeant testified that three of the girls told authorities Carney had repeatedly molested them at his office, in his truck, at their homes and during a camping trip. One of the girls told authorities that Carney, formerly a supervisor of a child abuse unit for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, had molested her more than 100 times.
Carney, who also once served as a school board president, was arrested Oct. 29 after a 14-year-old girl reported him to the Lancaster sheriff’s station. Four days later, Carney was elected to the Palmdale City Council. He resigned after two months.
Carney was freed in May after posting $500,000 bail, which had been reduced from an original amount of $2 million.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver declined to comment on why the charge was dismissed.
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