REWARDS IN RAPE REACH $45,000 SUSPECT MAY BE A NIGERIAN IMMIGRANT, POLICE SAY.

Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- Rewards offered in the hunt for a rapist who sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl two weeks ago in an Antelope Valley Mall movie theater have risen to $45,000.

Previously described as a middle-age black man with short hair and a graying mustache, the rapist may be a Nigerian immigrant, because the little girl has recalled that he had an accent, a detective said.

``We believe it's important to get word out to the public,'' sheriff's Sgt. Dan Scott said Tuesday during a Palmdale news conference.

The Nigerian immigrant aspect came up this week after the girl mentioned to her mother that the rapist had an accent similar to that of a woman teacher she once had, Scott said. The mother told detectives, who contacted the former teacher and found out she was from Nigeria.

Rewards in the Aug. 29 attack have been offered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Palmdale City Council, Antelope Valley Mall and Cinemark Inc., the owners of the mall's Movies 10 multiplex.

Councilman Steve Hofbauer, who has passed out fliers containing a sketch of the rapist at the mall, said everyone he has talked to has been shocked by the attack. Some asked for extra fliers to pass out at their work or at schools.

``They were genuinely outraged. The outrage spanned everyone. It didn't matter age or ethnicity,'' Hofbauer said.

Investigators are following several leads, but they are asking the public's help in identifying the rapist, sheriff's Special Victims Bureau commander Capt. Margaret Wagner said. Detectives want to talk to every person who was inside the mall near its theater between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Aug. 29.

People may have seen something connected to the rape and not realize its importance, Scott said.

``Many times when our detectives sit down with people, we find out they know more than they thought they do,'' Scott said.

Investigators do not know whether the rapist lives in the Antelope Valley or was simply passing through. They said they are aware of no other attacks in the greater Los Angeles area by a man fitting his description.

``We think he had knowledge, at least some knowledge, of the location. He probably did case the area and knew that theater would be empty,'' Scott said.

Investigators have taken DNA samples from possible suspects they have interviewed and are awaiting the results, Scott said.

The little girl had gone to the theater Aug. 29 to watch a movie while her father was in the mall. She was coming out about 1:30 p.m. to rejoin her father when the rapist accosted her in a theater hallway and forced her into an empty theater, Scott said.

The rapist, who was armed with a knife, threatened her, Scott said. The rapist assaulted the girl behind the movie screen, then fled out a back door and left her in the theater.

Detectives described the assailant as 35 to 45 years old, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. They said he wore a white T-shirt with an unknown logo and dark blue warm-up pants with white stripes down the legs.

``She's doing as well as can be expected,'' Scott said of the girl.

People who were in the mall at the time of the attack or have other information are asked to call the Special Victims Bureau tip line at [phone]. Additional reward donations are being accepted through the Sheriff's Relief Association, Fund 419, 11515 Colima Road, Building B, Whittier, CA 90604.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. Special Victims Bureau Sgt. Dan Scott speaks to the media Tuesday about a reward for information on the Antelope Valley Mall rapist.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer

(2) Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives released this artist's conception of a man who is accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl Aug. 29.