A 75-year-old man has been charged by the Stung Treng Provincial Court with repeatedly raping a 9-year-old girl after an alleged string of incidents that began in September.

According to Strung Treng provincial police penal bureau chief Doung Vutha, the suspect, named as Ban Puth, was arrested on Monday after the victim’s mother filed a complaint to the court.

Vutha said that the victim and her mother had no fixed address, and had reportedly been staying at the home of the suspect in Sesan district’s Kbal Romea commune.

“The victim often went out to the forest with the suspect to hunt animals, and the suspect had raped her many times before she decided to tell her mother,” he said.

According to Vutha, the victim had not been able to provide exact dates of the incidents, but said they began in September and occurred in the forest, inside the house and on the grounds of the property.

Kbal Romea commune police chief Lord Marorn confirmed he had ordered the arrest at the request of the court.