Waianae rape suspect: Police say the man has a heavy build and wore a red hat

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Rape stirs fear in
Waianae parents

Families are more alert after
the attack on an 8-year-old
girl in a vacant lot

Until earlier this week, Michael Loscalzo's biggest worry for kids in his Waianae neighborhood was traffic on Farrington Highway.

But late Thursday, a man lured an 8-year-old girl from the Waianae Neighborhood Community Center just a few hundred yards from Loscalzo's home and raped her in a nearby vacant lot, according to police.

Now, Loscalzo and other Waianae residents are watching children in the community more closely and keeping them nearer to home.

"It's just not safe," Loscalzo, who takes care of a 10-year-old, said yesterday as he stood on his porch looking out across a small stream at the community center.

Police released a composite sketch yesterday of the man alleged to have raped the girl. They described the suspect as having a heavy build, but did not provide an approximate age.

Police said he was wearing a red hat, gray shirt, black shorts and white shoes when the rape happened.

The victim's family found her in the vacant lot at about 9 p.m. Thursday, shortly after they noticed she was missing from the center at 85-670 Farrington Highway. She was taken to the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children.

In a subdivision next to the community center yesterday, a group of small children played outside their homes, riding bikes and jumping rope.

A mother of three watched over the kids, still in disbelief over the rape.

"It's very scary," said the woman, who asked that her name be withheld for fear of retribution. "Now, I'm going to lock everything."

The children, too, were aware of the incident and many had been told by parents and friends to be more aware of strangers.

"We usually come play outside," said 11-year-old Makanani Brown-Silva, who lives nearby. "But there's a lot of things happening in the world now."

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers