Ex-Councilman Posts Bail, Returns Home

Kevin Carney, the former Palmdale city councilman and Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant charged with molesting four Antelope Valley girls, has posted bail and is back at home with his family.

Sheriff’s officials said Carney was released from Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles about 8:30 p.m. Monday. Members of his family came to the adjacent Inmate Reception Center to meet him.

Reached by telephone at his Palmdale home Tuesday afternoon, Carney said, “I’m glad to be home . . . We would like some privacy.”

He and his family declined further comment on advice of his attorney, Milton Grimes.

Grimes was out of town and could not be reached.

Carney’s release follows last Friday’s decision by a Superior Court judge to reduce his bail to $500,000 from $1 million.

Since January, Carney, 48, had been held in an isolation cell at Men’s Central Jail. His initial bail was $2 million, but it was lowered to $1 million in March. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Several family members and friends testified last Friday that Carney would not be a flight or security risk if he returned to the community. Several supporters have worked for months on a defense fund for the 23-year Sheriff’s Department veteran and former school board president.

Carney was charged in January with 17 felony counts of child molestation, sexual abuse and oral copulation that allegedly involved four girls. Some of the alleged incidents date to 1990 when Carney supervised a child abuse unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

While he was in jail, Carney resigned after just two months on the Palmdale City Council.

He was first arrested on Oct. 29 when a 14-year-old girl went to the Lancaster sheriff’s station and said she had been molested. Four days later, Carney was elected to the Palmdale City Council.