Dutch man arrested for child abuse

Dutch police have arrested a 48-year-old man suspected of sexually abusing about 300 underage girls via the internet, the country's public prosecutor said Wednesday.

The man, whom authorities identify as Frank R. from Cuijk in North Brabant province, was arrested May 19 after allegedly kidnapping a 12-year-old girl. The missing girl was found in his car, Xinhua reported.

Further investigation revealed the man was suspected of possessing child pornography and sexually abusing underage girls he seduced on internet over a period of eight years.

The suspect persuaded girls to perform sexual acts in front of the webcam and took pictures, and had physical sexual contacts with at least 11 of them, according to the prosecution.

Among the 11 girls, three had made complaints to the police, saying the assaults took place in the suspect's house.

The girls, aged between 10 and 17, are from the Netherlands and Belgium.

The police have found about 26,000 videos and 144,000 photos of the man's alleged victims in his house, and identified 65 girls based on the evidence.

The man is held in custody at a secret location.