New Incidents Linked to Serial Child Molester : Crime: Two more schoolchildren in the San Fernando Valley are accosted. Police believe that same man is responsible for 32 cases.

Despite widespread publicity, a serial child molester allegedly accosted two more children Friday, returning to a neighborhood where he had been three days earlier and entering school grounds for the first time, Los Angeles police said.

Friday’s incidents bring to 32 the number attributed to the suspect, according to police, who are now linking him to four earlier attacks that were previously thought to be unrelated.

“He’s obviously obsessed with this type of behavior,” said Cmdr. John Moran of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Bureau. “His obsession has overcome any fear or publicity.”

In the most serious incident Friday, a man approached two young girls as they carried trash cans to a dumpster near the driveway of Van Nuys Elementary School about 10:15 a.m.

One girl was far enough away to flee, but the other, who had bent down to pick up some trash, did not see him approach, police said.

“He grabbed her, but she pulled away and got away from him,” Lt. Joseph Garcia said. “That’s the first time he has stepped on a campus.”

Also on Friday, a seventh-grader was approached by a man as she walked near the Robert A. Millikan Middle School in Sherman Oaks and asked if she wanted a ride.

On Tuesday, another student was attacked on her way to Van Nuys Elementary School, which was the first report of the molester in more than two weeks. The school is several blocks from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys Division station, where a 25-officer molester task force and all LAPD Valley operations are headquartered.

News of the most recent incidents spread quickly through Valley schools, where officials made public address system announcements, ordered teachers and counselors to talk to their students, and sent more warning letters home to parents.

“This person or person has to be apprehended,” said David Almada, principal at Millikan Middle School. The molester, who police say is responsible for at least 32 incidents since February, including one rape, returned to familiar territory. But authorities are puzzled and alarmed by apparent changes in his tactics. Investigators based their observations Friday on the two new cases and the four earlier ones that have been linked to the serial molester:

* In four of the new or reclassified cases, he struck in the afternoon instead of morning, police said. The latest an attack had before been reported was 12:15 p.m.

* During one incident in early November, the suspect had another man and two women in his car. Moran said police do not know whether the three passengers were accomplices.

* The molester sometimes uses “hats and hoods and so on,” perhaps to throw off police, Moran said.

* In some of the new or reclassified cases, the molester tried to lure his victims into a maroon vehicle, perhaps a Cadillac or other sedan, with offers of a ride and promises of toys and candy, Moran said.

Police said the first incident Friday occurred about 7:50 a.m., when the assailant pulled up next to a 12-year-old seventh-grader as she walked half a block from the Millikan school at 5041 Sunnyslope Ave. Two of the girl’s friends were nearby, and reported seeing a man drive up to the girl and ask her if she wanted a ride.

Although Moran said the man was driving a maroon sedan in the latest series of assaults, the three girls told school officials and some police that the man was driving a maroon van. Authorities late Friday attributed the discrepancies to the fact that the victims are young and probably too startled to remember some details.

None of the girls were harmed in Friday’s incidents, and they immediately notified school officials, who called police.

Police said the four incidents newly attributed to the molester happened on:

* Nov. 2, when a 15-year-old was approached near Canoga Park High School. The incident was not reported to police until 22 days later, Moran said.

* Nov. 22, when a 14-year-old was approached near the same school.

* Nov. 19, when a 12-year-old was approached at Christopher Columbus Middle School.

* Dec. 1, when a 13-year-old was approached, also near Columbus Middle School.

On Friday, parents were confused and worried.

“With all this happening, I think the police should be taking more precautions,” said Mariano Castillo, the parent of a Van Nuys Elementary School pupil. “The parents, of course, need to take more precautions, too, and walk their children to school.”

Millikan’s PTA co-president, Jill McNulty, was frustrated.

“It’s really hard to comprehend why we can’t find this guy,” McNulty said. “There is not enough police protection.”

School officials at Millikan said warnings and education about the dangers of molesters helped the potential victim avoid harm Friday. The girl and her two friends became suspicious of the man, and immediately notified their principal, who called police.

The girls--and the victim at Van Nuys Elementary School--have been interviewed by investigators and shown sketches of the suspected molester, police said. He is believed to be an African American male between the age of 35 and 45, weighing 185 to 210 pounds, who is balding and has a closelycropped beard.

At Millikan, many students appeared anxious about the news that the molester had struck so close to campus. Several dozen seventh-graders sought counseling and solace during lunch.

“They just needed to express themselves,” said Jimmy Rivers, a counselor, “and we were there to listen to them, advise them and tell them that it is OK to be afraid.”

Times staff writers Abigail Goldman and Julie Tamaki contributed to this story.