Man Sentenced in Rape at Elementary School

A man who brutally raped a 5-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Los Angeles elementary school was sentenced by a Superior Court judge Friday to 50 years to life in prison.

Leeray Buffin was 17 when he attacked the girl in January 1995 at 66th Street Elementary School. According to physical evidence and the child’s testimony, he stuffed her head in a toilet, urinated on her and choked her unconscious before raping and sodomizing her.

The girl, now 7, underwent reconstructive surgery after the attack and has attended county-provided counseling, authorities said.

“She is doing as well as can be expected,� said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Carter, who prosecuted the case. “She doesn’t really grasp what happened, but I hate to think about what she will cope with as she gets older.�

The attack prompted a demonstration by parents concerned about campus safety. In response, Los Angeles Unified School District officials implemented a districtwide “buddy program� in which students pair up to go to the bathroom.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Jacqueline A. Connor ordered Buffin, now 18, to serve 50 years to life for two counts of forceable lewd acts upon a child. Sentences on lesser convictions of attempted murder and mayhem will run concurrent.

Under sentencing guidelines, the 50-year-to-life sentence means Buffin must serve at least 42 years and six months before he can apply for parole. But if a parole board decides he is unfit, Buffin can be kept in prison until his death.

Buffin’s attorney, county public defender Arthur Braudrick, could not be reached for comment.

Neither the girl’s family nor relatives of Buffin were present for the sentencing at the Criminal Courts Building downtown.

The attack took place during the school day Jan. 24, 1995, after the girl got permission from her teacher to use the restroom. As the girl washed her hands, Buffin, who had been waiting in the hallway, entered the restroom with a sharp object, possibly a pair of scissors. After the attack, the child was left for dead in one of the stalls.

Buffin was arrested two days later, after Los Angeles police set up an around-the-clock command post in one of the school’s offices.