PREAH Sihanouk provincial court on Saturday arrested a Cambodian man on suspicion of raping a 6-year-old girl, police said.

Sihanoukville police Chief Man Sour said the 25-year-old was arrested Saturday after raping the girl when she came back from buying him cigarettes Thursday.

He then promised to give her 500 riels (US$0.12) to buy candy so she wouldn’t tell anyone, he said.

Man Sour said the suspect confessed to sexually assaulting the girl, but that he claimed he did not have sexual intercourse with her.

Chiep Sotheary, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, praised the court for holding the suspect in detention despite the fact that charges have not been handed down. She noted that this is more typical of cases involving suspected child rape than in cases with adult victims.