German police have arrested a 75-year-old man on suspicion of multiple counts of severe sexual abuse of children, aged between five and 11, living in the Philippines.

Police and prosecutors in Frankfurt said on Friday that the man is accused of instructing several children on multiple occasions via the internet to “perform sexual acts on themselves, transmit these acts to him live, or record them and send him the resulting footage.’’

It was alleged that the man committed the crimes with the help of adults in the Philippines.

The German law enforcement officials also said there is a “strong suspicion” that the accused committed similar acts while in the Philippines himself, the statement continued.

According to the authorities, “more than 13,000 suspicious image and video files had been uploaded to a cloud account associated with the suspect.’’

The investigation was triggered by a tip-off from the U.S.-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Investigators searched the man’s home and secured extensive evidence, including eight mobile phones, two tablets, cameras and numerous data storage devices.

The suspect was taken into custody near Frankfurt on Thursday, brought before Frankfurt District Court, and is now in pre-trial detention. 

(dpa/NAN)