A man was charged yesterday with raping a 4-year-old girl who was playing in the backyard of her Kalihi home Monday evening.

Shane Ngirmidol, 31, is accused of first- and third-degree sexual assault, and second-degree burglary. Bail is $50,000.

Ngirmidol, who has no permanent local address, is also being held on an outstanding $500 misdemeanor warrant.

His initial appearance was to be this morning at District Court; a preliminary hearing will be scheduled for next week. Prosecutors also could pursue charges through a grand jury indictment instead of at a preliminary hearing.

The alleged attack occurred Monday about 7 p.m. at an undisclosed location in Kalihi.

The girl was playing in the fenced-in backyard of her home, police said.

The assailant allegedly jumped over the chain-link fence, lured the girl into a tool shed and attacked her there.

Officials at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children's Sex Abuse Treatment Center notified police of the attack.

Police identified Ngirmidol as a suspect and found him Tuesday about 6 p.m. at the intersection of Palama and North King streets.

According to data on the Sex Abuse Treatment Center Web site, of all sexual assault cases nationwide, 67 percent of victims were under 18 years old, 34 percent were under 12, and 14 percent were under 7.

More than 90 percent of juvenile sexual assault victims reported knowing their attacker; 34 percent were family members and 59 percent acquaintances. Only 7 percent of the assailants were strangers to the victim.

The data also noted the average age of imprisoned rapists at arrest is 31.

U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics in 2000 showed rape had the highest annual victim cost at $127 billion per year, followed by assault, murder and drunken driving.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.