A 24-year-old man from Zaandam has been jailed for six years, to be followed by treatment in a secure psychiatric clinic, for the sexual abuse of 13 girls, many of whom were minors.

The man made contact with the girls via social media and told them he was terminally ill. He then requested nude photos of the girls to ‘complete his bucket list’, website Nu.nl reported.

Once he had the photos, the man used them to blackmail the girls into meeting him face to face, when he either raped them or forced them to perform other sexual acts, Nu.nl said.

Sometimes he told his victims that he himself was being forced to carry out the abuse on the command of a third person, the court documents show. On other occasions he promised them a mobile phone if they cooperated.

The court was told that the man was likely to re-offend, hence the decision to send him to a psychiatric prison on completion of his regular jail term.

The victims were also awarded €10,000 compensation.