PITTSBURGH -- The alleged rape of an 11-year-old girl in an abandoned home in Greenfield is spurring legislation to assess vacant buildings for possible demolition in Pittsburgh.

According to police, the girl told them she had just gotten off her school bus and was walking home when a white man sitting on the porch of an abandoned house on Ivondale Street grabbed her by the arm, then forced her inside and assaulted her.

Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields submitted legislation on Tuesday pushing to demolish abandoned buildings in that area of Greenfield.

"Obviously, you don't want to create conditions that led to the incident last Thursday, where a young girl is raped. That's important," Shields said.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said "sick individuals" will choose to act "regardless of whether or not they're in a neighborhood that has abandoned homes or not," but he did acknowledge that the city needs to address the situation of abandoned homes.

"This incident, I think, was one that -- I don't know if it would have been prevented without, or if that abandoned home would not have been there, but that being said, we are committed to making sure we deal with the problem," Ravenstahl said.

Shields said he's been trying for years to have something done about the street. Two years ago he led a tour of the area, taking a look at the road that had been sliding down a steep hill. The problem has grown worse, forcing many owners to abandon their homes.

"I don't know of anything in the (building) code that allows you to pack a house full with trash, garbage, leftovers, onto the front porch," Shields said. "This has been going on for a while. Several years, I've requested. Nobody's done anything. I call that failure."

Channel 4 Action News' Bob Mayo was in city council when the legislation was introduced. He reported council members agreed to fast track the legislation for a preliminary debate on Wednesday.

"There's been a lot of areas that have been neglected in the past, and I hope that we have improvements now in the future, now that we see some of these horrific problems that we have here," said Councilwoman Darlene Harris, who chairs the public works committee.

Shields has said the abandoned homes pose a hazard to the community because of the possibility of fire, vermin infestations and as havens for crime.

The legislation would leave the final decision on whether to demolish such buildings up to building inspectors and the Department of Public Works.

The inspectors would take a look at how the houses are holding up and public works officials would then decide if they should stay standing or not.

If passed, the legislation would also press building inspectors to provide a list within 15 days to the council of which buildings qualify for demolition.

"We need to get some action here on a street that's taken way too long. I'm also basically requesting that public works begin to make this assessment as to whether or not to do a buyout or to repair Ivondale. It's been going on for 10 years," Shields said.

Council officials are also asking that the head of the bureau of city building inspections and other safety officials meet on Wednesday to answer questions about what can be done to improve conditions on the street.

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