Local News in Brief : Schools Add Security After 11 Molestations

Security has been tightened at schools in the Sunland-Tujunga area in the wake of 11 molestations of young girls since midsummer, officials said Tuesday.

Parents and administrators are patrolling some campuses, and the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District have increased patrols, officials said.

A community meeting to discuss what has been done in the wake of the molestations and to answer questions has been scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pinewood Avenue Elementary School, 10111 Silverton Ave., Tujunga.

Parents, teachers and administrators said that a community network formed after Nov. 14, when parents were officially notified of the attacks by Plainview Avenue Elementary School. Since then, more and more parents have escorted their children to and from school, officials said.

The molestations began at the end of July, said Los Angeles Police Lt. Rick Violano, but it was not until the ninth girl had been molested that detectives linked the incidents.

“Some of the reports were labeled one way and some another way,” Violano said. “Then finally a detective noticed that the method of operation was the same.”

The latest attack occurred Friday about 8:15 a.m. at Apperson Street Elementary School, police said. Two incidents occurred at Pinewood and Plainview schools, Violano said, and the rest were in the community.

Violano said that about once every 10 days a young man has approached a 7- to 12-year-old girl in the area. He has lifted her skirt from behind and grabbed her, Violano said.