A man has been charged with rape by his 14-year-old neighbor who accused him of molesting her on December 1 in her parents' house in Barangay Balayong, Pamplona town, Oriental Negros.

The victim surfaced last week, more than a month later.

Police did not say why she kept the incident to herself until the weekend.

The girl (whose name is being withheld) told investigators that the suspect, Gideon Bandoles, entered her parents' house while she was alone at about 2 p.m. on December 1.

Once inside, she said, Bandoles pounced on her, removed her undergarment, and inserted his finger into her private part, police reports said.

A charge for rape in relation to the anti-child abuse law has been filed before the city prosecutor's office in Dumaguete City, against Bandoles.

The alleged rape was the first incident reported to the provincial police command this year.

Meanwhile, the police command disclosed that reported rape incidents in the province last year were less than those of 2004.

Police provincial Women and Children's Concerns Desk head, Chief Inspector Rosalinda Abellon, said her office recorded only 57 rape cases last year.

Of the total, 49 involved minors and eight adults.

Abellon claimed that the reduced number could be a result of the police's campaign to protect women and children and the enactment of Republic Act No. 9262, the anti-women and children abuse law.*

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