Conway man accused of being serial rapist heading to prison for rape, kidnapping
A Conway man suspected of sexual assaults going back for more than 20 years pleaded guilty to rape, kidnaping and burglary on Tuesday, according to a release sent by the Horry County Solicitor’s Office.
Randy Barnhill, 60, pleaded guilty under North Carolina v. Alford to first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and second-degree violent burglary. The defendant does not admit guilt in an Alford plea, but acknowledges that a jury would likely convict them based on evidence.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but Judge Michael G. Nettles suspended that sentence and ordered him to serve 18 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct, 30 years suspended to 18 years for kidnapping and the maximum sentence of 15 years for second-degree burglary.
His sentences will run concurrently, and he will not be eligible for parole. He will have to register as a sex offender and be subject to involuntary civil commitment under the Sexually Violent Predator Act after his sentence ends.
Barnhill pleaded guilty to a sexual assault that happened on Nov. 25, 2006, in the Myrtle Beach area. He accosted his victim in the parking lot of a local business where she was working after hours, then forced her inside the building and sexually assaulted her, according to the solicitor’s office.
The case went unsolved for years, but new developments allowing investigators to use DNA to identify suspects allowed police to identify Barnhill as the assailant.
Barnhill was previously linked to sexual assault cases going as far back as 2000, and was accused of forcibly entering women’s homes or trapping them in their cars before sexually assaulting them, The Sun News previously reported. He was denied bond after requesting to be released from jail three times since being arrested in 2022.
