Carrasquillo formally charged in rape of schoolgirl

Jose Carrasquillo was charged today with the rape of an 11-year-old Kensington girl and the groping assault of a 16-year-old girl.

He was transported this morning from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility to the Special Victims Unit in Kensington where he was charged with 19 counts, including rape and aggravated assault.

"We were eager to charge [him] as it relates to the two child victims," said Capt. John Darby, the unit's commanding officer.

"The rest of this is going to take a while," he said, referring to ongoing investigations of other possible assaults committed by Carrasquillo.

Darby announced on Tuesday a DNA match between Carrasquillo, 26, and the rape of the 11-year-old. Carrasquillo was in custody this afternoon awaiting arraignment.

The girl was viciously attacked on the morning of June 1, shortly after she dropped off her sister at a day-care center and began walking along the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue.

The girl told police that her attacker said he had a gun and forced her to walk to the 2000 block of East Westmoreland Street, where he attacked her behind a house.

Carrasquillo allegedly groped a 16-year-old girl that same morning and has been charged with indecent assault in that case.

Carrasquillo was arrested the next day, hours after police identified him as "a person of interest" and distributed his name and mug shot to Kensington residents and the news media.

That afternoon, he was spotted by neighborhood residents near Front and Clearfield Streets. They beat him into submission and held him until police arrived.