Police Release Sketch of Suspected Molester

Police are searching for a man believed to have sexually assaulted a 7-year-old boy inside the restroom of a crowded North Hills fast-food restaurant.

The boy was having dinner with his family March 30 at McDonald’s, in the 8300 block of Sepulveda Boulevard, when he got up to use the restroom, Capt. Vance Proctor of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire Division said. The door was locked, and a man loitering near the restrooms walked up to the front counter with the boy and asked a cashier to buzz them in, said Det. Gary Barthelmess.

The man sexually assaulted the boy in a restroom stall before fleeing out a side door of the restaurant, Barthelmess said.

A surveillance video camera mounted near the restaurant’s side door captured on film the suspect entering and exiting the restaurant, police said, and was used as a tool to draw a composite of the alleged molester.

“It’s very rare that we see the actions of a sexual predator on videotape,” Proctor said.

But like many surveillance videos, the picture is grainy and police haven’t yet been able to identify the suspect, who is described as white, about 25 to 35 with brown hair and brown eyes and wearing glasses. He is about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs about 160 pounds and is balding.

Barthelmess said sexual assaults are not “crimes of opportunity.”

On the videotape, the suspect is seen entering a side door of the restaurant and heading quickly for a nearby restroom. From his actions, police say they believe the man had been in the McDonald’s before, possibly casing it out for a future crime, Barthelmess said. Police have not received any reports of similar incidents in the area.

Barthelmess said the man realized he was being taped and abruptly turned his head toward the wall so he couldn’t be identified.

“It’s obvious this man is undeterred by the camera and the fact that there are 10 to 15 people eating in the restaurant,” he said.

A suspect was questioned and released Wednesday night, police said.

Anyone who has information about the crime is asked to call the LAPD’s Devonshire Division at (818) 756-8291 or (818) 756-8285 after business hours.