Youth, 17, to Be Charged in Attacks on Woman, Girls : Crime: The North Hills teen-ager has already been ordered to stand trial as an adult on 16 felonies in separate Nov. 16 incidents.

A North Hills teen-ager is expected to be arraigned in Van Nuys Superior Court today on charges of sexually assaulting two girls and a woman in an abduction and separate home invasion that took place hours apart.

Brandon R. Barnes, 17, has already been ordered to stand trial as an adult on 16 felony counts--including two that carry potential life sentences.

Barnes is charged with victimizing four neighborhood girls, and later, a couple in a nearby apartment last Nov. 16.

According to testimony given at a preliminary hearing last month, a man approached four girls--ages 16, 11, 5 and 2--as they walked home from a restaurant. Armed with a handgun, the man confronted the girls near the intersection of Roscoe Boulevard and Noble Avenue and demanded money, the oldest victim testified.

Deputy Dist. Atty Talis S. Haight said that when the girls responded that they had none, the man forced the four down a nearby alley, where he took the 16- and 11-year-olds behind a trash dumpster. The younger girls could not see what was to follow and were not harmed, Haight said.

The 16-year-old testified that Barnes sexually assaulted her before raping the 11-year-old girl. She said that he then ran off.

During the preliminary hearing, the eldest girl identified Barnes as her attacker.

“I think it’s tragic for these children to be exposed to these assaults,” Haight said.

About two hours later, according to other testimony at the hearing, Barnes broke into a Parthenia Street apartment. “Somebody came through the sliding glass window gun first,” a 27-year-old woman testified.

The woman, who also identified Barnes as her attacker, said he confronted her and a male friend, first asking for valuables. The woman’s 2-year-old daughter was also in the apartment.

When he did not receive anything, Barnes ordered the man to lie on the floor, where he was bound with the power cord from a hair dryer and his head was covered with a shirt, according to the testimony. Barnes then took the woman into a back room and ordered her to undress.

When she refused, the woman said: “He put the gun to my daughter’s head, and he said ‘If you don’t take your clothes off, I’ll shoot your kid; I’ll kill your kid.’ ” After the woman disrobed, Barnes raped her, she testified.

The attacker stole about $70 in food stamps and a pager, the victim testified.

The girls who were assaulted in the alley immediately contacted police, who prepared a composite drawing of the assailant by the next day. Police soon received an anonymous tip that led to Barnes’ arrest.

Haight said that when Barnes was taken into custody, the stolen beeper and the gun believed used in the crimes were found.

The second victim only contacted authorities after seeing Barnes’ composite and hearing that he had been arrested for assaulting several young girls.

Several attempts to reach Barnes’ defense attorney, Skip Tamborin, were unsuccessful.

Barnes will appear before Superior Court Judge James M. Coleman to issue a plea to the charges.

The 16-count information charges Barnes with two counts of kidnap for robbery--both of which carry potential life sentences--two counts of kidnap for sexual purposes, two counts of kidnaping someone under the age of 14, false imprisonment, three counts of rape, three counts of oral copulation, two counts of burglary and a single charge of burglary.

Barnes is being held at Sylmar Juvenile Hall.