ALBANY — Women’s groups are outraged that a freshman New York state senator was sworn in this week while facing charges he slashed his girlfriend’s face with a piece of broken glass in a jealous rage.

Hiram Monserrate was charged with assault and weapon possession after Karla Giraldo’s face was slashed on Dec. 19 at his New York City home. The gash over her eye required 25 stitches.

After he joined the Senate on Wednesday, Monserrate was appointed chair of the Consumer Protection Committee with a stipend of about $12,500 on top of the nearly $80,000 base salary.

“It’s very surprising, it really is,” said Patti Jo Newell, the director of public policy for the New York state Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “We are at a historic change within the New York state Senate ... to wait and see what happens with his case should not be too disruptive, but instead he’s been given a chair and been sworn in, and that has cast a shadow.”

Newell said it’s important to let the criminal justice system go through the usual process, and notes that the Queens Democrat hasn’t been found guilty.

Marcia Pappas, head of the state chapter of National Organization for Women, says the lawmaker is being awarded an undeserved position of power.

Calling Monserrate’s swearing in “a slap in the face,” she insists that the new Democratic Senate leadership should address the issue.

A spokesman says Democratic Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith is considering all appropriate options, but declined to say what those options are.

“If our leaders insist on seating Monserrate as chair, this proves they are either insufficiently educated on the issue or worse, does not care,” Pappas said in a written statement, adding that Gov. David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and all women senators should take public positions on the issue.

Silver and Paterson wouldn’t comment and Monserrate’s lawyer didn’t immediately return calls Friday.

Both Monserrate and his girlfriend have said the incident was an accident. The lawmaker told police he tripped while holding a glass of water and that the glass accidentally hit her.

But authorities say the evidence, including surveillance videos, paints a more violent picture of a heated argument and a frightened, bleeding woman in distress. Investigators say Monserrate purposely smashed her face with broken glass because he thought she was also dating a police officer.

According to the police report, Giraldo initially said she was assaulted, then changed her account after learning officers planned to arrest Monserrate. She later filed a statement with police saying she did not wish to press charges.

The Queens district attorney’s office said the case is pending.

Sen. Betty Little, an Adirondack Republican, said Monserrate’s swearing in was a step back for women, and a political decision for Democrats, who just took the majority from Republicans for the first time in 43 years.

“I think they wanted every member they had that was elected,” she said.

Little pointed out that the New York Giants suspended Plaxico Burress, New York’s No. 1 receiver, after he accidentally shot himself in the leg and was charged with illegal gun possession. She said the football team thought it was inappropriate for him to play, even though he hadn’t been found guilty, and perhaps the state Senate should use the same caution.

“I know that everyone’s innocent until proven guilty, but I think he (Monserrate) should be handled somewhat differently having these charges over him,” Little said. “There is plenty of time before he takes on his role in the Senate to determine whether he’s going to be prosecuted.”

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On the Net: www.NOWNYS.org

AP-ES-01-09-09 1652EST