CARNEY'S BAIL CUT BY HALF ONE CHARGE DISMISSED.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

A judge dismissed one charge against ex-Palmdale City Councilman and retired sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Carney, but refused to dismiss 17 more serious charges that he molested four girls.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor dismissed a misdemeanor count charging Carney, 48, with possession of child pornography. But she denied a defense request to dismiss the felony counts.

They include allegations of continuous sexual abuse, lewd acts upon a child, unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation with a person under 16.

The judge agreed to lower Carney's bail from $1 million to $500,000, saying she was balancing Carney's ``strong community ties'' and the seriousness of the charges, which could carry several life prison sentences.

The prosecutor agreed to dismiss the charge alleging that Carney possessed child pornography - photographs found in a briefcase in his house - saying that there was insufficient evidence because Carney had been head of a sheriff's unit that investigates child abuse cases.

A court document listing items seized in a search of Carney's house described the briefcase as containing ``old child abuse photos and papers.''

Kathleen Carney told reporters she is hopeful that family members, friends and supporters will be able to come up with the bail to get her husband of 25 years freed pending trial.

Carney has been held at Men's Central Jail since he surrendered Jan. 6 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

Deputy District Attorney Rob Dver opposed the lower bail, saying he thought that the $2 million initially imposed when Carney surrendered was the more appropriate amount.

He noted that the charges involving one girl - referred to in the criminal complaint as ``Gloria W.'' - spanned an eight-year period and included ``virtually every sex crime in the penal code.''

The judge's decision to cut Carney's bail in half followed a hearing involving a half-dozen witnesses, including his wife, daughter and several young women who said they knew Carney while they were growing up.

``We would like to see him vindicated. . . . We believe in him with all of our hearts,'' Kathleen Carney told the judge.

She said she had no doubts that her husband would show up if he was released on a lower bail, saying there is ``no way'' he would flee.

William Carney said his younger brother told him he was ``scared to death'' to surrender at the courthouse in January, but felt that was the only way he could clear his name.

``This is a fight for his life,'' the older brother said.

At Carney's preliminary hearing March 1, sheriff's Sgt. Allan Smith testified that Gloria W. said Carney began fondling her when she was 5 or 6, and that there were more than 100 similar instances over the next eight years.

Two other girls, ``Amanda D.'' and ``Lindsey H.,'' told investigators Carney fondled them on several occasions, Smith testified.

The two girls, who lived nearby, said they were visiting his house to see baby turtles in an upstairs bedroom, the sergeant said.

A fourth girl said Carney put his hand on her thigh, grabbed her nightclothes and pulled them up to her waist during a camping trip when she was 9, Smith said.

Carney was relieved of duty from the Lancaster sheriff's station following his arrest on suspicion of molesting one of the four girls. He has since retired from the Sheriff's Department.

Carney's trial was expected to begin May 31, but that is expected to be postponed to sometime in early September.