BRAZEN ASSAULT! 12-YEAR-OLD MOLESTED AT CROWDED CITY PARK.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand and Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writers

The sexual assault on a 12-year-old girl in a brazen attack at a city park teeming with people triggered a massive police manhunt Friday and an official review of park security citywide.

The girl was accosted at gunpoint at 6:20 p.m. Thursday in a parking lot at Valley Plaza Park in North Hollywood and forced into a men's restroom where she was assaulted while her mother was busy paying her daughter's karate class registration fee at the park office.

``This was a bold move for this suspect with that many people around,'' said Detective David Lambkin of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division, which is assisting North Hollywood detectives on the case.

Capt. Greg Meyer of the North Hollywood Division pleaded for the public's help in finding the attacker.

``He's obviously a vicious predator - the only one who could have done something like this,'' Meyer said during a Friday afternoon press conference.

``Even though crime is down in this city . . . there are still some vicious and violent criminals - in this case, one who preys on 12-year-old girls out there in society and these people need to be caught.''

The man was described as a baldheaded African-American, 25 to 35 years old. He is about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds, with brown eyes and a medium complexion, police said.

He was wearing a three-quarter-length black leather jacket with tight sleeves, black dress pants and black shoes with laces, according to witnesses who saw the man fleeing.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call North Hollywood detectives at [phone].

About a dozen people called the police station Friday expressing concerns about their children's safety, police said.

``The community in that area as a whole is traumatized by this crime,'' Meyer said. ``This is a very, very unusual crime in this area.''

In reaction to the attack, police called for a community awareness meeting at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church at 6020 Radford St. in North Hollywood, where guest speakers will include North Hollywood detectives, crisis counselors and Councilman Joel Wachs, whose district includes the 100-plus-acre park.

``We'll try to calm the fears that are out there,'' Meyer said.

Elizabeth MacPherson, a mother who just last week enrolled her 3-year-old son into day care at the park, said she was shocked and outraged over the attack.

``It's so sad and scary and it makes me angry,'' she said Friday. ``I wouldn't believe that something like that would happen here.''

Another parent, Roberto Flores, echoed MacPherson.

``I'm worried because I have a lot of children. I have to watch them more closely. I think we need more police and more security,'' he said.

Lilian Centeno, a preschool teacher at the park, emphasized that parents must watch over their children closely.

``It doesn't matter if they're 5 years old or 12, they always have to be with their children,'' she said.

Security concerns

Both police and park officials said this marks the first time that they can recall a sexual attack at the park.

Public officials vowed Friday to review security at all city parks. And the park's senior recreation director, Joe Medaglia, said his priority was to increase lighting in the restroom area.

``It's disgusting that these types of things can happen. It's filth. We all have kids. You really hope that the park is protected,'' Medaglia said.

Other parents called for cleaning up and repairing the dilapidated restrooms at the park filled with graffiti.

The victim was waiting on the sidewalk by her family's car near the park's auditorium as her mother went into the office to pay for her daughter's monthly karate classes at the park, officials said.

Pointing a handgun at her, the man led the girl into a men's bathroom at the back of the building, demanded that she take off her clothes and then sexually assaulted her before he fled on foot, Lambkin said.

He drew the attention of a few of about 100 people playing basketball and other sports at the popular play site in the 12200 block of Archwood Street, officials said.

Park employees and volunteers were also at the park at the time of the attack but saw nothing, Medaglia said.

The child ran for help and was taken to a hospital, treated and released.

``Clearly, we have a 12-year-old here who was violently abducted off the street at gunpoint and sexually molested. It speaks for itself that she is very severely traumatized,'' Meyer said.

Earlier assault

The attack occurred little more than three months after an 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in a restroom at North Hollywood Park, about two miles away.

Police do not believe the two attacks are related because there are significant differences in the descriptions of the suspects.

The man who attacked the 11-year-old at North Hollywood Park on Nov. 4 was described as a 5-foot-7-inch Latino male, 18 to 24 years old, with possibly crossed eyes and a medium complexion and medium build. Police have stopped and questioned at least 100 men with similar descriptions, but none was positively identified, Lambkin said.

``One (attack) is too many - so we have to look at everything from scratch,'' said Steve Soboroff, president of the city Board of Recreation and Parks Commission.

Soboroff called for a complete review of security at each of the city's 150 recreation centers, which are those parks that have buildings on site.

``We want to double-check the lighting at all of the parks,'' he said. ``We'll look very carefully at how something like this can happen at a busy park. It's just incumbent on us to make sure these events never happen again.''

Security at the city's 385 parks is entrusted to 54 unarmed park rangers, he said. The number of park rangers is inadequate, Soboroff said. There was no ranger at the park when the 12-year-old was attacked.

But judging from the brazenness of the attack, it is not certain that the presence of rangers would have deterred him, Soboroff said.

``It's one thing to guard against someone who has some fear in them by being at a busy facility,'' he said. ``But this guy was so bold and brazen and sick it's harder to guard against.''

Rick Sessinghaus, the parks department's interim general manager, said officials used a regularly scheduled staff meeting Friday morning to discuss the attack.

One suggestion that could be followed up, he said, was locking outdoor bathrooms and giving patrons access to only those that are in gymnasiums and other buildings, he said. That decision will be left up to the supervisor of each park.

Parks officials also put rangers and other staffers on alert.

SAFETY TIPS

The Los Angeles Police Department offers the following tips for children and parents in public places:

Parents should accompany their children at all times into public restrooms.

Always make sure your children are within eyesight.

If your children are not bused to school and you do not transport them, organize a neighborhood car pool or have an adult walk them to and from school.

Teach children to walk on major streets and to avoid shortcuts.

Emphasize the importance of not talking to strangers.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Map, Box

PHOTO (Composite sketch) Police are seeking a man described as a bald-headed African-American, 25-35 years old. He is about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds. Anyone with information can call North Hollywood detectives at [phone].

MAP: Valley Plaza Park - Site of assault

BOX: SAFETY TIPS (see text)