HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Horry County police said they have arrested a man linked to several rape and sexual assault cold cases.
Randy Earl Barnhill, 56, of Conway, is accused of raping five people from 2000 to 2006, according to police. He faces three charges, including first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, assault of a high and aggravated nature, first and second-degree burglary and exposure of private parts in a lewd and lascivious manner.
The arrest comes after new evidence and technology led to a lead in a 2006 investigation, according to police. Barnhill was identified as a suspect this May and was arrested last month.
Police said they’re still drafting warrants for more cold cases they believe Barnhill is a suspect in.
Further investigations also point to Barnhill being linked to four other cases. He received warrants for those crimes on Wednesday.
“It is the sincere hope of HCPD that this new development will bring the survivors of these incidents and the greater Horry County community some sense of peace,” the police announcement reads.
“I’m certainly very proud of the work and persistence by Horry County police officers in this
matter,” 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said in a statement. “It may have appeared to the victims that this series of crimes would have remained unsolved; however, Horry County continues to use
modern day advancements in technology to work for justice for crime victims.”
He has previously been convicted of indecent exposure in 1993 and 1995, according to information from police. He was added to the sex offender registry in 2010.
The early 2000s cases included Barnhill allegedly entering a woman’s home while she was sleeping and raping her, entering another home and exposing himself in front of a woman, sexually assaulting a woman in a parking lot and raping a woman while she was leaving work.
He remained in the J. Reuben Long Detention Center, as of Friday morning.
Barnhill has a criminal record in South Carolina dating back to 1989, according to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Background Check obtained by News13. In August 1989, he was convicted of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He was given a seven year sentence suspended to four years of probation.
In 1991, he was arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness, according to documents.
Other charges listed in the record are charges and convictions for indecent exposure, DUI and other traffic violations, domestic violence and receiving stolen goods.
In 2010, he was convicted of a sex offender registry violation, according to the documents. He was also convicted of indecent exposure several more times in 2013, 2016, and 2017.