Firm Promotes Central Park Rape Victim

The Central Park jogger who was gang-raped and beaten into a coma a year ago has been promoted to a vice president at her investment banking firm.

The promotion was confirmed Thursday by Lisa Borowitz, a spokeswoman for Salomon Bros. Inc. She said it was made in January, when the firm announces all of its corporate moves.

The 29-year-old jogger, whose name has largely been kept private, returned to work in November after undergoing rehabilitation. She was assigned to a position advising large corporations on investments.

Doctors have called her recovery from severe brain damage remarkable. When she was found in the park on April 20, 1989, after being attacked the previous evening, she had lost most of her blood and was near death.

The woman may be called to testify against her alleged assailants, even though she has no memory of the attack.

Newsday, quoting unidentified court sources, reported there is a “strong possibility” that prosecutors will call her to the witness stand to discuss her life before the attack and her recovery. She has said she wants to testify.

No date has been set for the first trial, which will involve three of the six teen-agers charged.

Authorities said she was attacked while jogging during the late evening, as she often did, by a gang of youths who beat and raped her.