Rape charges held for court
Woman says rape occurred after she helped man move into new home
BUCKS COUNTY » Rape and other charges against a 29-year-old Perkasie man are moving forward to Bucks County Court.
The charges against Brendan Kerr were held for court following a preliminary hearing Oct. 26 in front of Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage, New Britain.
During the hearing, a Hatfield woman said in answer to questions from Bucks County Deputy District Attorney Kristin McElroy that she and Kerr were friends since 2014. In June of 2020, she helped him move into a room at a house on N. 5th Street in Perkasie, she said. The woman said she had not planned to stay over, but after having had three drinks and marijuana, decided not to drive home. She said she slept fully clothed with Kerr in his bed.
The woman said she and Kerr had discussed that they would not have sex.
“He agreed he wouldn’t do anything,” she said.
In answer to defense attorney Steven Jones question of why they had that discussion, the woman said she had a boyfriend and that Kerr had a crush on her.
“I just had a feeling I needed to set that boundary,” she said.
She said she and Kerr went to sleep about 2 or 3 a.m. and she later woke up with Kerr groping her, followed by the rape.
Afterwards, Kerr went back to sleep, she said.
“I sat there for awhile basically just staring at the wall in shock,” the woman said.
She then went to a bathroom, where she sobbed for about an hour, then left the house, she said.
Kerr remains free on $300,000 unsecured bail. He is charged with rape by forcible compulsion, sexual assault and indecent assault. Formal arraignment in Bucks County Court is scheduled for Nov. 22.