Testimony began yesterday in the trial of a Prince George's County man accused of raping a co-worker in the back room of a Columbia shoe store.

Jose Chaparro-Nemog, 50, who claims he had consensual sex with the woman, faces a charge of second-degree rape.

The 39-year-old woman testified yesterday that she went into the back room of the store at about 8:45 a.m. Nov. 9 to get extra money for the cash register.

Chaparro-Nemog, a Riverdale resident, grabbed her from behind, held her hands behind her back and had sexual intercourse with her, the woman testified.

After the assault, the woman said, she put the money in the register, completed inventory, vacuumed and opened the store for business.

"I didn't tell anybody about it the whole day because I just wanted to pretend it didn't happen," the woman testified. "I couldn't deal with it."

Chaparro-Nemog had been sexually harassing her for four to six weeks before the alleged rape, the woman testified.

She said he would tell her he loved her and that she was beautiful. Eventually he began to grab and kiss her, she testified.

The woman was reluctant to tell her boss at the shoe store about Chaparro-Nemog's behavior because he had worked there longer than she had, she testified.

Two days after the allegedrape, the woman was admitted to a psychiatric hospital on the recommendation of a therapist.

It was at the hospital, three days after the alleged assault, that she mentioned the incident to a nurse.

After she was discharged from the hospital on Nov. 16, the woman said,she reported the rape to Howard County police.