Defendant in rape of girl, 11, waives hearing, is held for trial

The words of a frightened 11-year-old schoolgirl who was allegedly forced into a Kensington alley last month and raped were not heard in court yesterday after defendant Jose Carrasquillo waived his right to a preliminary hearing in her case.

Carrasquillo, a brown-haired, bearded man, dressed in a bright-orange jumpsuit with his hands shackled in back, was escorted yesterday by sheriff's deputies into a Family Court room.

The 11-year-old was not in the room, but was in the building and would have been ready to testify against him if needed, Assistant District Attorney Catharine Thurston said afterward.

Another girl, a 16-year-old, did testify yesterday. Carrasquillo is accused of fondling her an hour before the younger girl was attacked.

Carrasquillo, 26, whose last known address was Orkney Street near York, North Philadelphia, was held for trial yesterday on all charges in both cases by Common Pleas Senior Judge Alfred J. DiBona Jr.

The 16-year-old nervously testified that about 7 a.m. June 1, she was waiting for a bus on Dauphin Street near Front, North Philly, when "I felt something behind me. I looked back. I saw him [Carrasquillo] look at me top to bottom." She was going to school.

Carrasquillo, whom she did not know, then asked her if she wanted "to play hooky and if I want to smoke," the girl testified.

"You sexy, you sexy," he told her, she recalled.

She said she kept moving away from him, but "he reached over and grabbed my breast. . . .

"I smacked his hand away from my breast," then ran to school, she said. Authorities said she attended Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School on Cumberland Street near Coral.

Carrasquillo followed her and went into the school's cafeteria, she said. He then fled, police said.

About 8:20 a.m., Carrasquillo began following the 11-year-old, a fifth-grader at Russell H. Conwell Middle School, who was taking her younger sister to a day-care center in Kensington, police have said.

After the girl dropped her sister off, Carrasquillo approached the 11-year-old and threatened to shoot her if she didn't stay with him, police said. He then repeatedly raped her in a rear yard on Westmoreland Street near Emerald, authorities said.

The next day, after police described Carrasquillo as a "person of interest," an angry mob pummeled him at Front and Clearfield streets. A week later, police announced that Carrasquillo's DNA matched DNA found in the girl's underwear.

Thurston said after yesterday's court proceedings: "This is the most vicious and violent brutal crime that I've seen." Of the 11-year-old, she said the girl is doing "as well as can be expected at this time. She's a tough little girl."

Carrasquillo told the judge he has mental-health issues, but Thurston said afterward that she was not aware of any problems he may have.

The judge held Carrasquillo for trial on rape, aggravated assault, aggravated indecent assault and related charges in the 11-year-old's case. Thurston added charges of kidnapping and ethnic intimidation. She would not elaborate on the intimidation offense.

In the 16-year-old's case, Carrasquillo was held for trial on charges of indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors.

Public defender Elizabeth McHugh would not comment on why Carrasquillo waived his preliminary hearing in the 11-year-old's case. Defendants typically waive such hearings when there is enough evidence against them to move forward to a trial or plea.*