Cold case: Man arrested 33 years later in sexual assault of child, Plano police say
After more than 30 years, Plano police arrested a man on Thursday, Dec. 19 in connection to child abuse cold case.
Nicholas Carney, 64, was arrested in the 1991 abduction and sexual assault of an 8-year-old child, Plano Police Department said in a news release.
Detectives located Carney in Ardmore, Oklahoma after years of investigation and collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, police said.
Police said Carney has also been linked to a similar case in Dallas from 1999.
“We have reason to believe there are more victims,” police said.
On Aug. 15, 1991, at approximately 6 p.m. in the 1700 block of Lake Hill Lane in Plano, two children were walking to a neighborhood pool when an unidentified male abducted and sexually assaulted one of the children. The injured child was found five hours later in Garland, police said.
Police said in 2023, Plano police detective and Texas Rangers used the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative project to gather further investigative leads from evidence collected in 1991.
“In 2024 a combination of traditional forensic sciences and genetic genealogy research by Bode Technology and a crime analyst for the Plano Police Department connected evidence from the case to Carney,” police said.
Carney is currently detained with a pending bond and police and detectives are continuing to investigate potential offenses by him, police said.
Anyone with information about Carney’s relation to criminal activity is urged to call the Plano Police Department tip line at 972-941-2148 or policetips@plano.gov.
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 9:02 PM.