DA’s office analyzing data in Carns case

William “Bill” Carns, a former Nye County Republican Central Committee chairman, was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, Feb. 5, following his Jan. 31 arrest, according to a docket in the Pahrump Justice Court. A Nye County Sheriff’s Office arrest summary listed Carns as being arrested on charges of child sexual abuse material and weapons violations.

The Nye County District Attorney’s Office told the Pahrump Valley Times via email that it is working with the Nye County Sheriff’s Office and outside agencies to analyze metadata related to computer storage and data retrieval in the case.

“Charging decisions cannot be made until this detail is fully downloaded and analyzed,” Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi wrote in an email. “The child pornography provisions were recently amended which will affect the filing of charges under the old or new law.”

Kunzi confirmed that the Court set a May 5 return date regarding the status of the prosecution.