The man who was pummeled by Kensington vigilantes for his alleged connection to the rape of an 11-year-old girl was released from the hospital yesterday as new allegations arose that he groped another woman the day he allegedly attacked the girl.
Jose Carrasquillo, 26, was released from Temple University Hospital about noon and taken into police custody at the Special Victims Unit where he was questioned about Monday's assault on the girl and other possible assaults.
Video footage released by police yesterday shows Carrasquillo on Monday walking on Kensington Avenue near Orleans Street alongside the girl and her sister, who was dropped off at a day-care center before the attack.
Police said the 11-year-old was on her way to Russell Conwell Middle School when Carrasquillo threatened to shoot her and then raped her in a nearby back yard.
Just an hour earlier, police say, Carrasquillo entered the cafeteria of Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts - at Cumberland and Coral streets, about a mile from where the 11-year-old was approached - and groped a teenage girl, who later identified him as her attacker.
Authorities have not charged Carrasquillo in either case but say that they linked him through physical evidence to the yard off Westmoreland Street near Emerald, where the rape occurred.
Carrasquillo, being held on a parole violation for a drug conviction, is expected to be placed in protective custody when he is taken to a city prison, a police source said.
Charges will not be filed against those who beat Carrasquillo at Front and Clearfield streets until police intervened, police said.
But Jorge Zenquis, whose son, Michael, was misidentified as the rapist Tuesday and attacked by a mob, said that justice should be served by law enforcement only.
"Street justice, in my opinion, is not a good thing," said Zenquis, a disabled Vietnam veteran.
"They beat and kicked my son, while other people stood over him and said, 'That's what you get for raping little kids!' "
Police confirmed this week that Michael Zenquis was beaten by a group of people who then called 9-1-1. The officials said Zenquis was taken in for questioning and cleared of any connection to the rape case.
"I'm still traumatized," said Michael Zenquis, who plans to press charges against his assailants.
"I was accused of doing something I didn't do. I was embarrassed. They didn't need to take the law into their hands." * ..Source.. by DAFNEY TALES
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