‘Baby-buyer’ sketch is released

Hoping to catch the man who offered at least two nannies money to purchase the babies in their care, police and political leaders fanned out across Encino Park on Monday to hand out composite sketches of the suspect.

At a news conference with playground equipment as the backdrop, Los Angeles City Council members Wendy Gruel and Jack Weiss encouraged anyone who had seen the man to contact police immediately.

“We need the entire community to be vigilant in looking for the predator at parks, schools and malls because he has shown he’ll take extreme measures to acquire a child,” Gruel said.

Two incidents were reported last week involving the same man at Encino Park (also known as Genesta Park) near Genesta Avenue and Ventura Boulevard.

Last Monday, the man walked up to a nanny who was near the park swing set at 2:30 p.m. and offered to buy the baby in her care, police said.

The next day, the nanny saw the man approach a different baby sitter, who was caring for another child, police said.

After the man left, police said, the woman learned that he had made a similar offer to the other nanny.

Weiss encouraged baby sitters -- even those who are undocumented -- to talk to police, saying investigators would not ask witnesses about their immigration status.

“Nannies need not be afraid to talk to the police here,” Weiss said.

The suspect was described as a white man in his 40s, bald with a mustache, blue eyes, 5 feet 7, and weighing 200 to 250 pounds, police said. He was last seen wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans.

Police asked anyone with information about the man to call the Los Angeles Police Department’s Juvenile Division at (213) 485-4658 or (213) 485-4220.

andrew.blankstein @latimes.com