Suspect Sought in Kidnap, Rape of Girl

Law enforcement officers were searching Friday night for a man who raped a 14-year-old girl in Simi Valley’s Tapo Canyon area after kidnaping her at gunpoint in Canoga Park.

The man forced the girl into his car about 12:30 p.m. Friday and drove to an orchard in Tapo Canyon, where he tied her to a tree and raped her, said Deputy Dick Purnell of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Purnell said the man fled in a green sedan. The girl made her way to the road, where she was found by Simi Valley police officers. She was taken to Ventura County Medical Center.

Sheriff’s deputies were using a helicopter and bloodhounds in the search for the suspect, who was described as a heavyset white man, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 28 years old.