Most of the victims of the 53-year-old man, identified only as K, were his step-granddaughter’s friends who played in his house, South Tangerang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr Fadli Widianto said.

“The suspect has been molesting the girls since December 2014. Their ages range from 3 to 10 years old,” Fadli told reporters during a press conference.

(Read also: Middle-aged Tangerang man arrested for allegedly molesting nine girls)

The police arrested K in April after one of the victims told her parents about some health problems she was experiencing and then about the molestation. Her angered parents reported it to the police.

According to the police investigation, the suspect initiated his crime by scaring the children with horror movies so that the girls would come and hug him. “When he was holding these girls, he molested them,” Fadli said.

He said the police would set up a crisis center to help victims and their families in filing reports should any similar case happen in the future. “Apart from the crisis center, we will work with public order officers to resolve the matter.” (kuk)

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