Limburg man accused of child sex tourism in the Philippines; At least 2 victims abused

Prosecutors suspect a 68-year-old Dutch man of sexually abusing at least two children, and possibly two more, in the Philippines. He has also been under investigation for producing child sexual abuse material, Dutch prosecutors said during a status hearing at the District Court in Roermond. It also emerged during the court hearing on Monday that the allegations against the man from the south of Limburg date as far back as January 2018.

The court ordered the suspect, Hendrikus van M., to remain in pre-trial detention for another three months due to the child sex tourism allegations. His detention was extended because of a risk of recurrence, and a risk of flight as the Public Prosecution Service (OM) stated that the man mainly spends his time in the Philippines and not in the Netherlands. The court considered that the man tried to stay under the radar for a long time, which could indicate a possible flight risk.

The OM said it has established that he engaged in sexual acts with two underage girls. In addition, two more girls who may have been abused in the Philippines have yet to be interviewed, according to the Public Prosecution Service. It is not yyet known if they will be willing to participate.

The children he allegedly assaulted were under the age of 16, the OM said. The investigation is ongoing. The prosecutor pointed out that the man must be prevented from trying to bribe the alleged victims into keeping quiet, but the court denied that was a probable risk in the case.

Hendrikus van M.'s lawyer pointed out that his client was already questioned in 2019 about the alleged abuse of the two underage girls, for which he is now on trial. There was no reason to detain him then, the attorney said, so why detain him now? The lawyer said there was not a valid reason to detain him any longer.

Van M.'s attorney claimed the two girls had contacted the suspect via the internet, and the suspect then asked for a photo of them. There was no further contact after that, he claimed.

But the Public Prosecution Service painted a different picture. Dutch investigators were tipped off by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an American organization that tries to detect and prevent the abuse of children worldwide. Their researchers passed on the man's details to police in the Netherlands.

According to the suspect, he was abused by fellow prisoners on Sunday in the prison in Vught. He also was afraid of the possibility this would happen again due to the nature of the accusations against him.