17-year-old claims boss raped her

WILKES-BARRE – A 17-year-old girl testified Tuesday she kicked, scratched and twisted her body while trying to break away from her boss, Reinaldo Herrera-Ferrer, whom she said raped her inside his Edwardsville apartment in May.

The girl identified Herrera-Ferrer as a family friend and she worked for his transportation business, Reilly Transportation, which takes customers to and from New York City.

"I kept fighting, I kept screaming his full name, ‘No, Reinaldo, stop,' " she testified at a preliminary hearing in Wilkes-Barre Central Court.

The girl was the only witness called to testify by Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Maureen Collins.

District Judge Rick Cronauer determined Collins established a case against Herrera-Ferrer, and sent charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors to Luzerne County Court.

Herrera-Ferrer's attorney, Nanda Palissery, requested that the aggravated indecent assault count be dismissed because he believed there was no evidence to support the charge.

The girl testified she works as a receptionist answering telephones and scheduling customers' appointments for the transportation company that is operated from Herrera-Ferrer's apartment on Bertram Court. She said Herrera-Ferrer arrived at the apartment and began drinking alcohol and asking her about her private life on May 31.

Herrera-Ferrer put on music and told the girl to dance.

When she answered the phone, she said, Herrera-Ferrer kissed her neck. She said she walked to a bathroom and tried to close the door when Herrera-Ferrer pushed it open. While she pushed past him, she alleged he raped her.

Herrera-Ferrer remains jailed at the county prison for lack of $200,000 bail.