Dutch prosecutors seek 12 years in case involving alleged online abuse of 245 girls

Dutch prosecutors are seeking a 12-year prison sentence and compulsory treatment in secure detention for a man accused of online sexual abuse in a case involving 245 underage girls, news agency ANP reports.

The defendant, identified as Bas P., is a 40-year-old from Herten. The case is being heard in Rotterdam. The prosecution’s request is not a court sentence.

ANP reports that the girls were approached through a computer game called Highscoregame, which the defendant partly developed. He is suspected of forcing some of them to perform sexual acts on camera and of distributing images. The youngest girl was eight, according to the agency.

Prosecutors have identified 20 girls: 12 from the Netherlands and eight from the Flemish region of Belgium, ANP reported.

At a hearing on Wednesday, P. denied forcing the girls and said he had not made all the videos found, according to L1 Nieuws. He also denied distributing recordings he had made himself, but acknowledged that he had crossed a line by making recordings.