Police search for suspect in attacks on young girls in Westlake area

Los Angeles police are looking today for a suspect in the Westlake area who is believed to be responsible for multiple sexual assaults involving young girls.

The suspect is wanted for at least four sexual assaults dating to February 2008 involving girls ages 8 to 10, authorities said.

In each of those cases, the suspect approached the girls at about 7 a.m. and engaged them in conversation before “enticing them into apartment buildings and sexually assaulting them,” according to an LAPD release.

Police say the most recent assault occurred Wednesday at 7:20 a.m. when a 10-year-old girl walking to school near Beverly Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue was approached by a man who lured her into an apartment complex in the 100 block of South Commonwealth Avenue. There, he took her to a roof where he allegedly attempted to sexually assault her.

“The girl begged the suspect to stop his advances and repeatedly pushed him away,” police said in the release. “It is believed that the victim’s persistent actions caused the suspect to stop and leave the location.”

The suspect is described as a 25-to-45-year-old Latino with black hair and brown eyes, between 5-feet-6 and 5-feet-9 and 150 to 170 pounds.

He was seen on the apartment complex's video surveillance system, which shows the suspect walking with the victim and then later running northbound on Commonwealth Avenue.

Detectives are asking for the public’s help. Anyone with additional information on the suspect, additional victims or witnesses is asked to contact the Robbery-Homicide Division, Special Assaults Section at (213) 485-2921 or 1 (877) 527-3247.

-- Baxter Holmes