Police have released this composite sketch of the suspect in the assault of a Kalihi girl, 8. CrimeStoppers sketch • Honolulu Police Department

The victim told police she was awakened at 2 a.m. Friday at her home by a male in his late teens or early 20s, taken from the house and sexually assaulted in a dark area behind the home.

The family since has moved out of the house on the 3200 block of Kalihi Street, where two other nighttime break-ins have been reported in the last month, said Detective Letha DeCaires of the police CrimeStoppers program.

Family members were alerted by sounds of furniture overturning and the outside motion-sensor lights switching on, DeCaires said. While the family rushed to investigate, the child ran back to the house and told them she'd just been assaulted, DeCaires said.

The child's house had been burglarized at night a month earlier, and there had another break-in a block away in April, DeCaires said. Neither of those cases involved sexual assault, however.

Police are still seeking leads from fingerprints and other forensic evidence gathered from all the burglaries but launched the canvassing effort today on top of the usual CrimeStoppers media campaign because an extra push seemed warranted here, DeCaires added.

"I didn't get one call with a name last night, and that's pretty unusual," she said.

Kalihi police Lt. Margo Sneed said she handed out copies of the CrimeStoppers flier to every officer sergeant and patrol trainee this morning with instructions to disperse them at schools and shopping centers. If smaller shops want to post a copy in their windows, additional copies will be available at the Kalihi station, Sneed said.

It's not hard to understand why the neighborhood and even the larger community is up in arms over this case, she said.

"That's true anytime something like this happens," she said. "You just can't imagine someone coming in and taking your kid out of the house at night."

The burglar also is described as being clean shaven with short dark hair, a medium height and build. He also was described as wearing a dark jacket, striped shirt and blue shorts.