By CESAR JOLITO III

A 34-year-old man previously accused of theft in Metro Manila is now facing serious allegations of sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl in Bacolod City.

Police Captain Liberty Indiape, officer-in-charge of the Bacolod City Police Office’s Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD), confirmed that the girl, accompanied by her family on Monday, July 7, formally filed a complaint after mustering the courage to speak out despite her initial fear.

Based on the child’s account, the suspect, known only by the alias “Roland,” lured her with small amounts of money and by regularly lending her a cellphone.

Gaining the child’s trust, Roland eventually took her to his house, where he lived alone, and allegedly committed the abuse there.

“The incident allegedly happened in the morning, and our initial investigation suggests the suspect had been watching the victim for some time,” Indiape said.

She said the child’s aunt revealed that suspicions arose after they noticed physical injuries and bleeding in the girl’s private parts.

The victim’s father dismissed the injuries as a urinary tract infection and denied any abuse.

However, the girl later opened up that she had been sexually abused twice by Roland.

She had kept the first incident of abuse to herself out of fear.

As of this writing, the results of the victim’s medical examination are still pending.

Indiape said the girl and her family previously lived in Bicol Region, but relocated to Bacolod following the separation of her parents.

She now lives with her father, while her mother has started a new family in Negros Occidental’s Talisay City.

Meanwhile, authorities said Roland — who has been separated from his wife and has one child — fled to Manila following the incidents and has not been seen since.

He allegedly avoided arrest for a pending case involving the theft of motorcycle parts belonging to a member of the military.

Authorities reported that the suspect is originally from Negros Occidental’s Sagay City.

His current whereabouts remain unknown, and he is now being sought by police in connection with the alleged sexual assault.

Seeking refuge, Roland returned to Negros but avoided his hometown and instead stayed in a barangay in Bacolod, where some of his relatives reside — reportedly in an attempt to evade law enforcement in Sagay.

Authorities are now preparing all documents for the case to be filed against the suspect./CJ, WDJ