After DNA evidence linked a suspect to two child abuse cases in the 1990s, the person was taken into custody.
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Plano police arrested Nicholas Carney, 64, and charged him with the sexual assault of two young girls in separate incidents during the 1990s.
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Carney is connected to the cases of an 8-year-old girl who was abducted in his neighborhood in Plano (1991) and a 9-year-old girl who was abducted walking home from school in Dallas (1999).
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Investigators used new DNA technology to match evidence from both cases to a distant family member of Carney.
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Carney was arrested at his home in Oklahoma on Dec. 19.
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Plano police arrested Nicholas Carney, 64, and charged him with the sexual assault of two young girls in separate incidents during the 1990s.
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Carney is connected to the cases of an 8-year-old girl who was abducted in his neighborhood in Plano (1991) and a 9-year-old girl who was abducted walking home from school in Dallas (1999).
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Investigators used new DNA technology to match evidence from both cases to a distant family member of Carney.
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Carney was arrested at his home in Oklahoma on Dec. 19.
After DNA evidence linked a suspect to two child abuse cases in the 1990s, the person was taken into custody.
He was linked to another child sexual attack in Dallas and has been wanted for over 30 years for the aggravated sexual assault of a kid in Plano.
Detectives located the 64-year-old suspect in Ardmore, Oklahoma, using new forensic DNA technology.
What we know:
In Ardmore, Oklahoma, Nicholas Ray Carney was taken into custody on suspicion of kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of a minor related to events in 1991 and 1999.
The Plano Police Department is presently holding Carney. His bond is still pending.
A man approached an 8-year-old girl and her companion in an alley on August 15, 1991, as they were making their way to a local pool on Lake Hill Lane in Plano. After luring the girl into his car, the man—later identified as 35-year-old Carney—took off.
As per the affidavit, Carney made the youngster watch pornography and threatened to “never see your family again” if she didn’t comply with his orders.
After being sexually molested, the girl was discovered in a Garland home. She sustained damage to her throat and neck.
“They have been thinking about this case daily for more than 30 years without knowing. According to Plano Police Det. Aaron Benzick, “It’s a story of the victim’s survival and tenacity that she survived that afternoon and that horrible day that the offense occurred.” “But then to go on for 30-plus years and not have answers and to wonder about that definitely carried a lot of responsibility as a detective working on that case and trying to bring answers to them”
In both cases, the suspect was depicted by police in composite sketches as a man who was around 6 feet tall, had brown eyes, brown hair, a mustache, and smoked a lot of cigarettes. Additionally, Carney used manipulation techniques involving animals to entice both ladies into his vehicle.
1991 Suspect Illustration
“This story for this particular case is really a story of evolving technology helping us revisit this case,” Benzick stated.
In 2004, thirteen years after the attack, Plano police entered 1991 DNA saved in the FBI National Crime DNA database and received a hit on a 1999 sexual assault in Dallas.
“It’s great that we obtain that match between the two cases. It broadens the case and provides us with additional information to examine and compare,” Benzick stated. “But it still goes without identifying the offender for about 24 more years.”
On March 25, 1999, Carney pulled up in his automobile to a 9-year-old girl and her friend as they were on their way home from school in Dallas. The girl was sexually raped after he enticed her into his car.
Police gathered DNA evidence from the victims’ clothing in both incidents.
Timeline:
First assault: August 15, 1991; victim: 8-year-old girl.
March 25, 1999: A second assault on a 9-year-old girl.
2004: March 8: Both instances’ DNA evidence is connected.
In May of 2023, investigators started reviewing the cases using new technologies.
February 2024: No DNA matches were discovered on another search.
October: Investigators started looking for the suspected suspect’s potential relatives.
November: At Carney’s home in Oklahoma, police started looking into him.
Nicholas Carney was linked by DNA evidence on December 16.
Carney was detained on December 19.
Plano Police Department mugshot of Nicholas Carney
How police solved the case:
Bode Technology’s Forensic Genetic Genealogy, which compares DNA to commercial DNA databases, was used by Plano police this year.
By determining the potential DNA source, family trees are constructed.
The purpose of DNA profiling is to verify or rule out anyone else who doesn’t match the DNA sample.
A possible family connection to a deceased mother with six children was investigated by investigators.
As a result, Keith Carney, who was found guilty of murder in Utah in 1990, was identified. Nicholas Carney was found as investigators looked for Keith Carney’s siblings.
Background investigations showed that Nicholas Carney had been arrested for indecent exposure in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1980. Carney’s identify was further confirmed by comparing the composite sketches with a photo from his 1996 driver’s license.
Carney’s discarded garbage bag included DNA that verified the connection to the assault charges.
“We’re going to want to learn everything we can about this person we’ve arrested, Nicholas Carney,” Benzick stated. “Where is he currently residing? How long has he resided in various locations? Which cases are still pending in those fields? What other victims are we able to assist? How can our collaboration with our 1991 victim benefit victims we aren’t even aware of yet?
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The Plano Police Department’s updates and an arrest warrant affidavit provided the information for this piece.
The Plano Police Department’s updates and an arrest warrant affidavit provided the information for this piece.
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