Battambang Provincial Court yesterday charged a former monk, who was defrocked, with raping a child, and are holding him in the provincial prison until his trial.

Rattana Maisorphorn, 26, was defrocked and arrested on Saturday, after the 10-year-old victim’s parents complained to police that their daughter told them that he had sexually assaulted her, Seng Lux,

Battambang’s deputy police chief of central justice, said yesterday.

“The terrible monk admitted to the authorities that he raped the victim,” Lux said.

While studying at Thmorkol Pagoda, Maisorphorn befriended the victim’s parents, Lux said yesterday. He frequently visited and slept over at their home.

The monk committed the crime when the girl’s parents were at work, Lux said. He first sexually abused the girl on May 4, and then raped her three days later, on Thursday.

After their daughter told them about the crime, the victim’s parents reported the incidents to officials at women and children’s protection organisation Banteay Srei, who informed police in Battambang’s Sampov Loun district on Saturday, according to Lux. Police arrested Maisorphorn later that day.

In an interview yesterday, Siv Phorn, the victim’s mother, said her family is not looking for any monetary compensation. She wants the court to punish Maisorphorn because he broke the law, and rules Buddhist monks are expected to respect, she said.