COUNCILMAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY 14-PAGE COMPLAINT DETAILS 17 COUNTS OF SEXUAL ABUSE CARNEY JAILED IN LIEU OF $2 MILLION BAIL.

Byline: Troy Anderson and Karen Maeshiro Staff Writers

A veteran sheriff's sergeant elected to the Palmdale City Council just days after being accused of child molestation pleaded not guilty Thursday to 17 counts of sexually abusing four young girls.

Kevin Carney, 48, was jailed in lieu of $2 million after he surrendered to authorities in Los Angeles Municipal Court. He pleaded not guilty to felony charges of oral copulation, continuous sexual abuse, unlawful sexual intercourse and lewd acts with a child and a misdemeanor count of possessing child pornography.

The former sex-crimes investigator is accused of molesting one girl - identified in the 14-page criminal complaint as ``Gloria W.'' - for the last eight years, since she was 6 years old, said Deputy District Attorney Robert Dver. Carney has said he was a ``surrogate father'' to the girl and even escorted her to father-daughter dinners.

Two others, ``Amanda D.'' and ``Lindsey H.,'' were molested on several occasions, according to the complaint. Their allegations resulted in Carney's arrest in 1997 - just 10 days before he lost the Palmdale mayor's election - but no charges were filed then.

A fourth girl, identified as ``Maria C.,'' was molested in September 1994, according to the complaint.

``When you have one child who says she was molested, you have some doubts,'' Dver said. ``When you have two or three children, that eliminates more doubt. When you have four children, that's even more credible.''

During the hearing, Carney's attorney Milton Grimes asked Judge Sam Ohta to keep Carney's bail at $100,000, the amount set at the time of his Oct. 29 arrest.

But Ohta said state laws on the charges against Carney require the high bail. Nevertheless, Ohta set a Jan. 14 hearing to reconsider bail and a Jan. 19 preliminary hearing.

Carney's arrest on suspicion of molesting the 14-year-old came just four days before the Nov. 2 City Council election, which he won. Prosecutors said it took until Wednesday to complete their investigation and file charges.

Grimes of Newport Beach questioned the credibility of the investigation, especially the timing of Carney's arrest.

``I don't know if that is relevant or not, but it is suspicious,'' Grimes said.

Dver, however, said investigators have found nothing in the background of the victims' families to indicate the allegations were politically motivated.

Grimes also questioned why the District Attorney's Office declined to file charges after Carney's arrest in 1997 but have since decided the allegations warrant prosecution.

``I think a lot of these allegations have to do with manipulation of the victims by adults,'' Grimes said. ``The father of one of the victims in the 1997 cases said his child was influenced by another child's fantasy.''

But Dver said that the strength of the new case involving Gloria W. helped corroborate the testimony in the 1997 case and led to the fourth girl.

At the time of his 1997 arrest, Carney was head of the Lancaster juvenile investigations unit, which looks into sexual assaults of children. He was reassigned and has never returned to that post.

Despite the nature of the charges against Carney, authorities said they have no plans to reopen cases that Carney oversaw.

``Being the head of the unit doesn't mean he is personally investigating each and every one of the charges. The fact there are charges leveled against him doesn't reflect on those people who worked for him,'' said Deputy District Attorney Phil Rabichow, head of the Lancaster office. ``The mere fact that he was a head of a unit is not reason to reopen cases. He would have to have more direct involvement in the case.''

Sgt. Mike Becker, Carney's successor, estimated the juvenile unit handled 650 to 750 cases a year between 1991 and 1997 but said Carney would have been directly involved in very few of them. Instead, he would have read the initial reports of incidents and assigned them to investigators.

Becker added that the Carney case is disheartening.

``As a law enforcement officer, it really disheartens me because we have a high rate of child abuse. To have some of our own violate these laws, my officers feel a bit of their heart has been torn away,'' Becker said.

Since his October arrest, Carney had been on administrative leave with pay, but sheriff's officials said Thursday they are taking steps to suspend his salary. Officials also said that Carney had filed the paperwork to retire from the department.

Despite his arrest, Carney will retain his Palmdale City Council seat for at least the next 60 days, officials say. Carney's seat would become vacant if he goes at least 60 days without attending a City Council meeting, officials said. He also would lose his seat if he is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony.

Locally, however, there were calls for Carney to resign his council seat.

``With the charges pending, he owes it to the citizens of Palmdale that he should resign,'' said attorney R. Rex Parris, who represented Carney after his 1997 arrest. ``Whether he's innocent or guilty, this case will be on the front page for a very long time. As long as he is a city councilman, it drags the city into the mud with him.''

Antelope Valley Union High School District Board President Bill Olenick, who served with Carney on the high school board from 1995 to 1999, also called for Carney to resign.

``It's in the best interest of the community that he step down.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: (color) Palmdale official Kevin Carney was jailed Thursday in lieu of $2 million in bail.

Charles F. Bostwick/Staff Photographer