Boy, 11, Was Raped Near Pacoima School

Police said Friday they are investigating the sexual assault of an 11-year-old boy near a Pacoima elementary school to determine if it is linked to the subsequent kidnaping and rape of two girls in the same neighborhood.

“We are investigating the possibility that the same subject committed all three,” said Capt. James T. McBride of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division. “It’s unusual for one subject to rape both males and females, but we are looking into it.”

All three rapes occurred in the same general vicinity, near Van Nuys and Glenoaks boulevards, and in the morning as the children headed to school, said McBride.

Two of the students were headed to Hillery T. Broadous Elementary School on Filmore Street and the third was going to a bus stop for a ride to a high school.

McBride said police had taken a suspect into custody for questioning in the Sept. 13 rape of the young boy, but released him because of insufficient evidence. Detectives have questioned other suspects in the rapes of the two girls, but no one has been charged.

The rapes of the two girls had prompted school officials to warn parents to accompany their children to and from school, and counsel them not to talk to strangers. Parents turned up in droves to pick up their children from Pacoima-area schools in response, and packed a community meeting Thursday night to air their concerns.

“It’s very frightening,” said Debra Reed, whose daughter and nephew attend Broadous. “That’s why I’m doing what I always do, which is bring them there and pick them up every day.”

On Friday, the Los Angeles City Council authorized a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the attacker. The measure was sponsored by Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the Pacoima area.

In the Sept. 13 incident, the boy was walking to Broadous at 7:45 a.m. when the attack occurred, said McBride.

In the subsequent attacks, the girls were taken to a vacant apartment and raped. One was a 16-year-old on her way to a bus stop Sept. 21 when she was abducted in the 12600 block of Van Nuys Boulevard. Police said an 11-year-old girl walking to the Broadous school was kidnaped the following day on the same block.

The Los Angeles Police Department has assigned extra officers to patrol the area and investigate the crimes, said McBride.

Witnesses describe the male suspect as an African-American, 25 to 30 years old, between 5 feet, 8 inches and 6 feet tall, and weighing between 150 and 180 pounds. His head was partially shaved, and he had “razor bumps” on his chin and neck from shaving.