Sexual Assault of Winnetka Girl Resembles 2001 Crime, Police Say

A man sought in the kidnap and sexual assault this month of a 7-year-old San Fernando Valley girl is believed to have committed a “virtually identical” crime four years ago in the same area, police said Monday as they announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Officials, fearing he will strike again, urged parents in the Valley to keep close watch on their children.

“There is a continued threat,” said Deputy Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department. Sexual predators have “a type of mentality that doesn’t stop,” he said.

The blond, blue-eyed girl was snatched while playing alone on the sidewalk in front of her Winnetka home about 5:30 p.m. Oct. 4 and was released several hours later about a mile away, police said. Her hair was still damp from a shower she said she took with her captor. Police believe it was an attempt to destroy evidence of a sexual assault.

Less than five miles away in Canoga Park, a 6-year-old girl was abducted May 21, 2001, and sexually assaulted, Moore said at a Devonshire Police Station news conference Monday.

“The descriptions of the two suspects are similar, though not exact. However, the suspect’s actions in both cases are virtually identical,” Moore said.

Police believe that in each abduction, the attacker threw a cloth over the girl’s head and drove off with her in a pickup truck, took her to a residence where the assault took place and released her a short distance from the abduction point.

“There is reason to believe the suspect lives in the area,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith, who on Friday got the council to approve the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Investigators are scouring a statewide list of registered sex offenders after checking those who live locally without success, Det. Jesse Alvarado said.

The man is described as Latino, 40 to 50 years old and about 5 feet 6, with a thin build and gray hair, mustache and eyebrows. He speaks English with a Spanish accent and told the Winnetka victim his name was George, police said.

Her abduction took place at Sunny Brae Avenue and Michale Street. She described the man’s vehicle as a black or other dark-colored newer model, possibly having four doors or an extended cab. She was released at Remmet Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard and shortly before midnight walked into a bar, where patrons called police.

Alvarado said that the girl’s recovery has been “better than I expected” and that she is undergoing counseling. “She is very resilient, very intelligent,” he said.

The 2001 abduction occurred while the girl was riding her bike near Criswell Street and Kentland Avenue. She told police she was forced into a green pickup. Shortly after the assault, she was released at Tony Avenue and Calvert Street, about a mile and a half away, police said.

Investigators do not consider the passage of four years between abductions to be unusual. The man may have attempted or committed similar crimes that have gone unreported, Alvarado said. He asked other possible victims to come forward.

Volunteers and law enforcement officers have circulated a police sketch of the suspect at schools, businesses and residences in Winnetka, Canoga Park, Chatsworth and Northridge, resulting in a number of leads from the public. But more help is needed, Moore said.

Covering the girls’ heads shows that the crime “was well thought out” so that they would not see the captor or where they were being taken, Alvarado said. “This individual is thinking about what he’s going to do.”

Anyone with information is asked to call (213) 485-2921 or a 24-hour anonymous tip line, (877) 529-3855.