Messages at Fire Scene Refer to Molestations

Someone set fire to a Sunland School classroom on Monday night and left messages claiming that he had molested several young girls in the past 2 1/2 years in the Sunland-Tujunga area, authorities said Tuesday.

The fire broke out about 11:30 p.m. in a closet in a music classroom. It caused between $8,000 and $10,000 in damage to the building, Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman Shel Erlich said. It also caused an undetermined amount of damage to the room’s contents, which included a piano.

Left on a chalkboard and on windows of an adjacent bungalow were messages in chalk and orange crayon about molestations that occurred in 1988.

Between July and late November of that year, 11 incidents were reported to police, leading to a community outcry and Guardian Angel patrols. Girls aged 7 to 12 said a man would run up to them as they walked near schools, reach under their dresses and run away. No one was arrested despite a $5,000 City Council reward.

Detective Nancy Lyon said the incidents suddenly stopped, and only a few fitting the pattern have been reported in two years.