Man Held in Rape of Girl, 12, in Apartment

An 18-year-old Pacific Palisades man was charged Friday with breaking into the apartment of a 12-year-old neighbor and sexually assaulting her for more than an hour at knifepoint.

Aran “Sandy” Chilingar, a slightly built youth with tousled hair and boyish features, appeared in Santa Monica Superior Court on Friday. But he declined to enter a plea regarding Wednesday’s assault, which has shocked the victim’s usually quiet neighborhood along Sunset Boulevard.

As several of Chilingar’s friends and family members watched Friday, the young man made no public statement. With a pensive expression on his face, he sat handcuffed in the courtroom, wearing a blue sweatshirt and sweatpants.

At the request of defense lawyer Frederick J. Warner, the arraignment was postponed until Feb. 15.

Judge John Reid set the defendant’s bail at $1.125 million, and as of Friday night, Chilingar remained in custody. Reid declined to act on a defense request that Chilingar be removed from the general population of the Los Angeles County Jail while in custody.

“That’s a decision the sheriff makes,” Reid said.

The charges, burglary and forcible lewd acts on a child under the age of 14, are accompanied by special allegations that the sexual assault occurred during a residential burglary and the defendant was armed. Special allegations add to a defendant’s potential sentence. In Chilingar’s case, conviction could carry a maximum prison term of at least 25 years to life, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Gina Satriano.

Police, who took Chilingar into custody hours after the attack, alleged that the defendant broke into the victim’s apartment about 5 a.m., about half an hour after her mother left home for work.

Neighbors reportedly heard a scream shortly after the break-in and called police, but gave them the wrong address. Officers arrived at the victim’s address about an hour and a half later, after the girl’s mother returned home and called police.

Neither Chilingar’s lawyer nor the prosecutor would comment on details of the case. Police declined to say whether the victim may have known her alleged assailant.

At the same time as Friday’s court hearing, Los Angeles Police Department officials downtown held a news conference crediting a special Sheriff’s Department canine search unit with cracking the case.

“The dogs picked up a scent at the crime scene and led detectives to a residence,” Cmdr. David Kalish said. “We obtained a search warrant for that residence and found additional evidence inside.”

Det. John Alviani said it took the dogs, a 6-year-old bloodhound and an 8-year-old Labrador retriever, about five minutes to find their way to the home where Chilingar lives with his parents.

News of Chilingar’s arrest prompted both relief and dismay in the neighborhood.

“Obviously people are relieved that they found out who it was,” said neighbor Peter Branch. “But it’s hard for me to accept the reality of it.”