CONWAY — The main suspect in a series of Horry County sexual assault cases is heading to prison.
Randy Barnhill, 60, pleaded guilty Sept. 30 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and second-degree burglary for an attack he committed on Nov. 25, 2006. The attack took place at the victim’s workplace as she tried to go to her car.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Nettles sentenced Barnhill to up to 30 years in prison for the criminal sexual conduct charge. He will be required to serve least 15 years. Nettles also sentenced Barnhill to 18 years for kidnapping and 15 years for burglary, with all sentences running concurrently.
Barnhill must serve 85 percent of his sentences before being eligible for parole, Nettles said, adding that he does not expect Barnhill to survive his sentence.
“When the defendant committed this series of sexual assaults, the women in our county were afraid and scared, and I think that’s what we need to remember,” Senior Assistant Solicitor Leigh Allen Waller said. “Not only did this impact the lives of the victims here today, but he created a real fear in our community. This is exactly the kind of crime that we’re here to stop.”
Barnhill initially pleaded not guilty to 13 charges, including multiple counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and burglary.
But his attorney Morgan Martin told the judge that DNA evidence from the 2006 case caused his client to change his mind.
“I believe that if we had a trial, he would likely be convicted,” Martin told the judge.
Barnhill’s initial 13 charges stemmed from five Horry County sexual assault cases between 2000 and 2006.
Barnhill first became the primary suspect in the 2006 sexual assault investigation in late May 2022 after advances in technology helped police develop a new lead in the case. He was arrested the following month.
Further investigation by county police and the State Law Enforcement Division led authorities to name Barnhill a suspect in the other cases. Warrants for the additional four cases were served on June 29, 2022.
The allegations included a 2005 rape at a residence on Barberry Drive near Conway and other sexual crimes.
Martin did not deny that his client committed multiple incidents of sexual assault dating back to the early 2000s. But he emphasized that Barnhill was only pleading guilty to his role in one of the attacks, and he said Barnhill no longer poses a threat to the community.
Martin asked Nettles not to take the other cases into account. He requested a sentence that would allow his client to be punished and then reunited with his family before he died.
“I believe any danger that Randy once posed has passed,” Martin said. “There are good parts of Randy that are worth redeeming. … God makes complicated people sometimes.”
But one of Barnhill’s victims, identified publicly as Jane Doe, asked that he receive the maximum penalty. Doe was attacked in 2000 and her case brought some of the initial charges against Barnhill.
Doe was attacked while she was walking to her car after work. She said she tried to kick Barnhill, push him off and stab him with a car key, but he wouldn’t stop.
“It was like he was in a trance,” Doe told the judge. “It’s a very bad feeling, knowing you’re pinned against the car…and you can’t get away … I just don’t want anyone else to experience this.”
Barnhill was also denied bond twice while he awaited trial, with judges citing his criminal history as the primary reason. Barnhill is a registered sex offender.
During Barnhill’s 2024 bond hearing, prosecutors noted that his charges stem from him “literally picking victims off the street” and then attacking them. They maintained that if Barnhill was released, his victims and the public would be concerned.