By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

A man charged with molesting several children in St. Marks back in 2016 will plea to lesser charges in a deal that will send him to prison for four years followed by 11 years of probation.

Kenny Carnivale, the man charged with having sexual contact with the children as a “family friend,” will formally enter the plea next month and be sent off to prison. At a hearing on Friday, July 12, parents of the children voiced displeasure with the plea deal, calling the four year prison term a slap on the wrist.
One of the victims, now an adult, said he was “preyed upon” by Carnivale.
The parents and victim all expressed frustration that the criminal case, filed in 2017, was just being resolved. And they said they were pressured to accept the deal by the state attorney’s office, though they didn’t like it.
Wakulla Circuit Judge Layne Smith said he would sign off on the plea deal – even as he expressed a “heavy heart” about the family’s frustration.
Judge Smith noted that the attorneys in the case – Wakulla Chief Prosecutor Andrew Deneen and defense attorney Joshua Zelman – were knowledgeable about the facts of the case and were familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the case and the possible legal outcomes.
The father of some victims told the court, motioning at Carnivale, “The man deserves more than four years” in prison.
The mother of three of the children, who were 4, 6 and 13 years old at the the time of the alleged abuse, wept, and said “The system is broken.” She wanted Carnivale designated as a sexual offender.
The older victim, now an adult, said he still felt embarrassment and trauma from being preyed upon. He said he felt the state attorney’s office forced him to accept the plea deal, though he didn’t support it.
Judge Smith explained that crime victims don’t have to agree to a plea deal for it to move forward. The judge expressed sympathy to the young man for what he had been through.
The judge agreed to accept the plea deal, which is set to be imposed on Aug. 15.
The deal calls for Carnivale to plea to lesser charges of aggravated battery, a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, to be adjudicated guilty, serve 48 months in state prison followed by 11 years of probation with special conditions including that he have no contact with the victims, to undergo a psychosexual evaluation, have no internet access, and agree to warantless searches of electronic devices.