A 46-year-old man has appeared in court in Zutphen charged with sexually abusing eight girls and the possession of child pornography.

The man, named as Anthony B, has admitted all the charges against him, including the sexual abuse, local broadcaster Omroep Gelderland said.

Police found some 34,000 images of children which he had taken on his computer and at his home. He has also been charged with secretly filming at least 24 different children, the broadcaster said.

The victims were aged eight to 15 and the abuse took place at the man’s home in Alem, a village of 700 people, during sleep-overs organised by his own children.

Charges were first brought after one of the girls woke up while he was photographing her, and she told her parents. They brought in the police.

B, who had lived in the village for 20 years, was also active with both the local primary school and local hockey club, Omroep Gelderland said.