Parx jockey Guerrero charged, ejected

CARLOS GUERRERO, who has dominated the trainer standings at Parx Racing for the last 2 years, has been charged with one count of misdemeanor indecent assault by Bensalem police, as the result of an incident that took place at the track last month. The track has responded to the charge by ejecting Guerrero from the track for 10 years.

The 10 years is arbitrary. Once the case is adjudicated, the suspension will be adjusted to a more reasonable period of time.

"We are preparing an appeal as we speak," said William Goldman, Jr., Guerrero's attorney. "The allegations will be aggressively defended."

The incident apparently involved a young woman who works at the track.

"He is being ejected based upon the allegation," Goldman said. "So much for the presumption of innocence. What they did was they decided to preemptively act and eject him from the track based upon that allegation. The matter will await a hearing in Harrisburg in front of the Pennsylvania State Racing Commission."

Goldman hopes that hearing will be held within 30 days.

The police, according to Goldman, are saying his client "hugged and kissed her and patted her on the rump." Goldman said his client has a version of the incident, but said: "We will defer. We'll address that in court."

Guerrero, 40, grew up in Mexico and now lives in South Jersey with his wife and two daughters. He won with an American-best 40 percent of his starters in 2010. This year, he is the runaway leader in the Parx standings with 131 wins through yesterday.

When reached, Joe Wilson, Parx Racing's chief operating office, had no comment on the ejection.