Seventeen men who paid to have sex with a 16-year-old girl face will face prosecution even though they said they were not aware she was under age, the public prosecution department has confirmed.

The men who come from the Eindhoven region will appear in court on Tuesday charged with having sex with an underage prostitute. The three drivers who took the girl to hotels in Eindhoven and Limburg will also face charges, the Eindhovens Dagblad reported.

‘We do everything we can to prevent minors ending up in prostitution,’ department spokeswoman Janine Kramer said. ‘So everyone who had a role in this will be dealt with.’

The case broke two years ago after detectives were tipped off about sex advert. Detectives made an appointment and, when they arrived at the hotel, found the 16-year-old. Details of her clients were recovered from her mobile phone.

The case is the biggest of its kind in the Netherlands since 2015, when six men were convicted of having sex with a 16-year-old girl. Her pimp was jailed for two years.